Nominations open for 2026 Jenco Awards honoring Appalachian service leaders

Adams County residents have until Tuesday, June 16, to put local volunteers and quiet civic leaders forward for the 2026 Jenco Awards, a regional honor that recognizes service outside a person’s paid job.

The awards reach across a 32-county Appalachian Ohio region and are open to people of all ages. The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio says nominations are reviewed through a formal committee process, and the program is meant to spotlight visionary leaders and volunteers whose direct, person-to-person work improves quality of life.

That broad definition matters in Adams County, where the people doing the most visible work are not always the ones with a title. A teacher who mentors students after school, a church volunteer who organizes food drives, a youth coach who keeps kids engaged, a nonprofit leader who stitches together local services, or a neighbor who quietly helps families through a crisis could all fit the award’s purpose if their impact reaches beyond a single paid role.

The Jenco Awards began in 2002 and have since become one of the region’s more established ways to recognize public service. Foundation for Appalachian Ohio materials say the awards have gone to nearly 100 individuals since then, and earlier materials put the total at more than 90. Past recipients have included Holly Johnson of Adams County, who was named a 2024 Jenco Award recipient for service beyond her paid position.

The award carries the legacy of Father Lawrence Martin Jenco, who was kidnapped in 1985 while serving as director of Catholic Relief Services in Lebanon and spent 19 months in captivity. Terry Anderson founded the Jenco Foundation in 2001, and the foundation joined the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio as an endowment in 2011 so the program could continue long term. Anderson died April 21, 2024, and Father Jenco died in 1996.

For Adams County, the nomination window is a chance to recognize the people who keep small communities functioning in ways that rarely make headlines. The nomination form, additional information and a list of previous recipients are available on the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio’s Jenco page.