Who should be Central Floridian of the Year?

Central Florida never runs out of challenges. Fortunately, it also has an ample share of champions. Since 1983, we’ve chosen to honor these local heroes with the selection of Central Floridian of the Year.

As usual, we’re starting the nomination process with an appeal to our readers. We’re looking for people who work tirelessly, sometimes anonymously, to make this a better community. Some count their impact by the thousands of lives their work touches, others by their rapid response to an emergency.

We’ve celebrated the success of innovative and well-executed ideas, and acknowledged dogged refusals to give up on problems written off as unsolvable.

Among past honorees are wellknown names such as Gary Cain, who capped a splendid 28-year run as CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Central Florida in early 2023. We’ve recognized IDignity founder Michael Dippy, who saw the barriers that kept homeless people from obtaining legal identification needed to get them back on their feet; Deirdre Macnab, whose tireless advocacy as president of the League of Women Voters of Florida protected critical rights; and the team that fought, on one terrible night, to save the lives of those shot in the Pulse nightclub massacre.

Please help us find the people who deserve this honor for 2023. You can send nominations via email at insight@ orlandosentinel.com; please include CFOTY in the subject line and get your recommendations to us by Nov. 27.

We’ll consider groups of people, and you can also send multiple nominations or self-nominations; for each nominee, please include a description of why you think they should be honored, along with your own contact information for any questions.