There's been a tremendous outpouring of support for Haiti, as volunteers from Pittsburgh and beyond have descended upon the small Caribbean nation to provide medical care and supplies, food and water, cleanup and rebuilding assistance, security and more.

This humanitarian spirit is particularly strong in the Steel City. While the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti have recently captured the limelight, thousands here work quietly throughout the year -- year after year -- to make Pittsburgh, as well as the world, a better place.

Like the Fox Chapel retired plastic surgeon who travels to impoverished countries across the globe to provide surgical care to children suffering from painful and often ostracizing deformities.

Or the Homewood mother who works one garden plot at a time to beautify one of the city's most troubled neighborhoods. Or the two East End women who help incarcerated moms stay connected with their children.

They are among seven finalists for Most Outstanding Volunteer of the Year for the 2009 Jefferson Awards for Public Service.

The finalists were selected from 50 volunteers -- formerly called Community Champions -- nominated by citizens from the region for their exemplary contributions. This year for the first time, all 50 will receive Jefferson Award medals, considered the Nobel Prizes of Volunteerism.

"The Jefferson Awards are all about honoring unsung heroes," said Joe Barone, community marketing manager for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which locally administers the Jefferson Award program with sponsorship by Highmark, The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.

"All 50 of this year's volunteers have given back to the community, so we wanted to make sure they all receive the award, rather than just a handful of them."

Still, among the 50, a few stand out. They were selected last month by a panel of local community, nonprofit and business representatives as finalists for Most Outstanding Volunteer. They will receive $1,000 for the nonprofit organization of their choice, underwritten by sponsoring groups.

The top volunteer will be selected at an awards dinner honoring all 50 Jefferson awardees Feb. 11 at the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History.

The winner will go on to represent Western Pennsylvania this summer at the national Jefferson Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The award program was started in 1972 by the American Institute for Public Service.

Here are the finalists for Most Outstanding Volunteer of the Year for 2009:

• Alicia Kozakiewicz, 21, was kidnapped at age 13 by a man she met in an Internet chat room. She was rescued by FBI agents four days later in the man's townhouse in Virginia, where she had been chained to the floor, tortured and sexually assaulted. Now a Point Park University student, she has turned the terrifying experiences into something positive -- warning other children about the dangers of the Internet.

WOMEN of Southwestern PA Inc. is donating $1,000 to the National Association to Protect Children on her behalf. Her profile will appear in the Post-Gazette Magazine section Monday.

• Stephen Conti, 51, an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon from Franklin Park, has reached out to the homeless for years with donations of free shoes and foot care. Now with the active support of his family, his charity, Our Hearts to Your Soles, has joined with other organizations and last year provided 8,000 pairs of work boots to homeless people in 41 states.

The PNC Foundation will donate $1,000 to Our Hearts to Your Soles. Dr. Conti's profile will appear in Tuesday's Magazine section.

• Mary Savage, 79, is known as the "flower lady" around her neighborhood of Homewood. She is responsible for spearheading the cleanup of debris and rubbish from a dozen vacant lots, transforming them into vibrant gardens that bring pride and goodwill to the people of this community. While she does much of the work herself, she's also pulled in children from the local YMCA and other groups.

William J. Green & Associates will donate $1,000 to the Homewood-Brushton YMCA on her behalf. Her profile will appear in Wednesday's Magazine section.

• Jack Demos, 62, a plastic surgeon who retired a year and a half ago, recognized that his skills could help people far beyond his North Side medical practice. In 1994 the Fox Chapel man founded Surgicorps International, whose volunteers have made more than 40 trips abroad to provide surgical care to children with cleft lips or palates and other deformities.

Dewey & Kaye will donate $1,000 to Surgicorps International on Dr. Demos' behalf. His profile will appear in Friday's Mag & Movies section.

• Barbara Shore, 89, of Squirrel Hill, is a pioneer in social work who has spent a lifetime helping local nonprofits achieve their goals. As a researcher and member of many boards, she's been instrumental in advocating for women's rights, the aging, Jewish culture, crime victims, the gay and lesbian community and special needs. As one supporter says: "If there is a wrong in society, she will work until it is righted."

The Jewish Healthcare Foundation will give $1,000 to the Human Services Center Corp. on Ms. Shore's behalf. Her profile will appear in Saturday's Home & Garden section.

• Marilyn Long, 64, of Squirrel Hill, and Elizabeth Albright, 65, of Oakland, have worked for seven years to help women in the Allegheny County Jail stay connected with their children. As volunteers with the Mother's Voice program -- supported by Lydia's Place, a nonprofit serving female offenders and their families -- they record the women as they read children's books. The books and CDs are then given to the women's children so they can follow the story with their mother's voice.

FISA Foundation will provide $1,000 to Lydia's Place on behalf of Ms. Long and Ms. Albright. Their profile will appear in the Feb. 8 Magazine section in the Post-Gazette.

The 2009 Jefferson Awards presentation will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 in the music hall of the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History. The ceremony is free and open to the public.

Doug Oster writes a blog, "Growing With Doug," exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.