Six individuals from the Carbon County and Tamaqua areas were honored Monday evening at a banquet sponsored by the Mauch Chunk Trust Company at the Grand Ballroom at Kelly's in Lansford.

A full house of more than 240 guests attended the event honoring the 2010 "MCT Community Heroes".MCT President and CEO Patrick H. Reilly, the Master of Ceremonies for the Award Banquet, told those in attendance that the definition of a "Community Hero" is "an individual in our community who volunteers their time and their talent to make our community a better place to live in and to work."The six Community Heroes honored Monday evening were nominated by community residents in recognition of their outstanding volunteer contributions and were chosen from a record number for one year of 31 nominations received by the Mauch Chunk Trust Company.Those honored were : Jamie S. Kunkle of Jim Thorpe; Marveline L. Costenbader of Palmerton; Francis "Snitz" O'Donnell of Jim Thorpe; Randolph L. Gormley of Tamaqua; Jeana DePuy of Lansford; and Lee Becker of Lehighton.The Mauch Chunk Trust Company initiated the Community Heroes Program 10 years ago because they felt that there were people in our communities who volunteer and dedicate their time and talents to various local charities and organizations who should be recognized for their efforts.Reilly went on to say that, including this year, there have been a total of 73 individuals so far who have been named as Community Heroes.He then introduced 27 past Community Heroes who were present at banquet that evening.MCT presented each of the six heroes with an engraved plaque in recognition of their volunteer efforts in their communities.In addition, MCT made a $100 donation in each of the hero's names to the organization or charity of their choice.