Iowa Sister States announced that it is now accepting nominations for the 2016 Robert D. Ray Iowa Sister State Volunteer Awards. The award given each year recognizes outstanding volunteers and partners by awarding them the Robert D. Ray Service Award in three different categories: Cooperating Organization, Home Host of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year.

The Robert D. Ray Iowa Sister States Service Award was named in recognition of the international efforts by former Iowa Governor Robert D. Ray (He served from 1969-1983). Governor Ray served as the first president of the board of directors at Iowa Sister States.

Please visit www.iowasisterstates.org to download the application.

Iowa Sister States (ISS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1985 to manage Iowa’s official relationship with foreign states, as established by the Governor of Iowa. There are nine of these, including: Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan (1960), Yucatan, Mexico (1965), Hebei Province, China (1983), Terengganu, Malaysia (1987), Stavropol Krai, Russia (1988), Taiwan (1989), Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine (1996), Veneto Region, Italy (1997), and Kosovo (2013).

ISS is a volunteer organization dedicated to connecting Iowans with the world community. To learn more about ISS visit our website, www.iowasisterstates.org, join the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/IowaSisterStates, or follow on Twitter @IASisterStates.