Carol A. Dawson, a columnist for the Jeffersonville, Ind., Evening News and The New Albany, Ind., Tribune, has received the prestigious Will Rogers Humanitarian Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

The honor was announced Saturday night at the NSNC's 32nd annual conference in New Orleans. Ellen Goodman, the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the Boston Globe and Washington Post Writers Group, received the organization's Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award.

James Rogers, great-grandson of Will Rogers, presented Dawson and co-winner Bill Campbell, a columnist for The Beachcomber of Destin, Fla., with replica statutes of the the famous Oklahoma humorist in the U.S. Capitol.

Dawson was cited for her "The Extra Miler" column about ordinary people committing extraordinary acts of kindness for others in the southern Indiana communities served by the Evening News and The Tribune. Both papers are owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., a group publisher of more than 90 dailies in 20 states.

Dawson originated her column three years ago as a freelance writer to recognize individuals who "go the extra mile" and do not seek or receive public credit for their deeds. Subjects of her column receive an "Extra Miler" pin.

Her column has featured more than 200 people, including many serving in the military, and has elicited countless responses. She said a column she wrote about local troops in Iraq last year resulted in 3,000 cards and letters to the soldiers.

“The acknowledgement is not for the words I put to paper each month,” she said. “It is for the people who are featured. This is recognition that kindness begets kindness.”

The Will Rogers award was established by the NSNC in 1999, and recognizes a columnist whose work has positively affected readers' lives and produced tangible benefits for the communities served by the writer's newspapers. The NSNC said winners are selected on the basis of results.