The International Executive Housekeepers Association (IEHA) is now accepting nominations for the 2011 Unsung Hero Award. This award is presented to frontline workers in the cleaning and custodial industry who show exemplary initiative in going "above and beyond" their call of duty. Because the work of frontline staff often goes largely unrecognized, IEHA’s Unsung Hero Award assists in bringing more attention to cleaning departments in institutions across the globe.

If you know someone who has stopped a robbery by pointing out suspicious individuals who seem out of place, someone who came to work and saved the company thousands of dollars in restoration costs when a flood hit or someone who smelled smoke and took action to stop a fire, nominate them for the Unsung Hero award. To nominate, please e-mail excel@ieha.org, and submit a paragraph explaining why you feel this individual is deserving of the award. Nominations are due by Tuesday, September 6, 2011. The recipient will have their story printed in Executive Housekeeping Today magazine and will receive a complimentary one-year membership to IEHA, along with a $200 cash prize, donated by longtime IEHA member Alan Bigger, REH.

The Unsung Hero award winner will be named during International Housekeepers Week, September 11-17, 2011. Since 1981, IEHA has set aside one week per year for all to focus attention and recognition on the professional housekeepers working in facilities such as hospitals, hotels, state facilities, colleges/schools and many others who maintain a cleaner, safer, healthier environment for us all each and every day. IEHA invites you to join in the spirit of International Housekeepers Week by giving recognition to the professionals in your housekeeping department.