NORTHAMPTON — The Daily Hampshire Gazette, together with the United Way of Franklin and Hampshire Counties and the Greenfield Recorder, have opened nominations for two annual awards recognizing individuals creating positive impact in their communities.

The Person of the Year Award acknowledges a Hampshire County resident whose personal or professional work improves the quality of life for people in the Pioneer Valley. Past winners of the Person of the Year include Shawn Robinson, vocational services director at ServiceNet; Barbara Black, early childhood educator; Khama Ennis, associate director of Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s emergency department; and Robin Bialecki, executive director of the Easthampton Community Center.

The Young Community Leader Award honors a person between the ages of 15 and 22 who lives in Hampshire or Franklin counties and has contributed to the community through community involvement, such as volunteerism, civic engagement or public participation. Residents who received the Young Community Leader Award include western Massachusetts student council leader Hadley Szynal, Smith College student Lilly Fellows and Hopkins Academy student Christian Ciolkos.

“We’re giving the community a chance to honor their own and to recognize who’s doing the good work in the community. It’s not always the people that we think it is, ” Gazette Publisher Shawn Palmer said. “Very often the people that win, while very deserving, often are very under the radar ... they just they just do what they do in a quiet way, and this is a chance to shine a light on them.”

Recipients received a prize of $500, half of which is donated to a charity of their choice.

Representatives from the Gazette, Recorder and United Way review the nominations and pick two people to honor at the United Way’s annual meeting at Look Memorial Park in June.

“It’s exciting to me. There’s really a lot of good work going on out there,” Palmer said. “There are some pretty impressive young people this year.”

Nominations will remain open until April 26 and can be submitted online at gazettenet.com.