ESCANABA — Today marks the end of National Volunteer Week. The week may end but, thankfully, the dedicated commitment of our unpaid heroes does not.

Several organizations this past week recognized and celebrated the invaluable contributions of community volunteers. The Chamber also extends a heartfelt thank you to all the people who, through their volunteer efforts, support this community and help make it a better place to live.

We take this opportunity to honor the volunteers associated with the Commerce Center, those who share their time and talent to help build a stronger community.

The Delta County Ambassadors’ volunteer spirit is observable all year. Year-round, members of this elite volunteer service organization can be seen meeting and welcoming guests at various Chamber and community events.

Considered to be the hospitality arm of the Chamber, you will see Ambassadors at ribbon cutting celebrations with their trademark giant scissors giving a red ribbon welcome and encouragement to members and their new business ventures.

As active community leaders, they devote their time, knowledge, and experience to work for continued prosperity and business development in Delta County while conveying a positive image of the Chamber.

For the past eight years, the Chamber has been responsible for recruiting and placing 300 volunteers for the annual Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass. Each year that job gets easier for us because volunteers are anxious to get involved. They come from all corners of the Upper Peninsula, lower Michigan, Wisconsin and from as far away as Texas.

We typically have more volunteers than we have positions to fill. Our volunteers are involved because they love golf, want to help the community or just want to have an active role in this unique event. Over the years, they have donated more than 26,000 hours of their time to be part of an event that helps women golfers launch their future careers in the LPGA.

We have also had the opportunity to get to know some very extraordinary people who make serving others at the U.P. State Fair a priority. We applaud the people who are willing to share their pride and passion to benefit the fair. Their involvement and commitment to giving back to the fair, in most instances, is a family tradition and something that they’ve done since they were children. The fair would not exist today without their dedicated commitment.

We would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge and thank the Chamber Board of Directors who are all continually working to help expand our mission to lead our waterfront community to become a place people want to call home, visit and conduct business.

Thank you to all volunteers ~ you all have made a personal, positive impact on Delta County and beyond.

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Vickie Micheau is executive director of the Delta County Chamber of Commerce