EDMONDS — Melissa Ballou keeps a close eye on daily vote totals.

That’s because the nonprofit where she works could win the People’s Choice Award in a national initiative launched in April by first lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden.

The Our Family for Families First Foundation was named earlier this month as one of 20 finalists in the Joining Forces Community Challenge that recognizes organizations and communities that work to improve the lives of military families and veterans.

The foundation, which provides scholarships for children and spouses of active-duty military personnel serving in seven locations throughout the country, was in first place Wednesday when Ballou checked the Joining Forces Community Challenge website.

“Last I looked we were 2,500 votes in the lead,” she said. “We feel very positive about it and very hopeful. It feels great to be among organizations making positive contributions to military families.”

Our Family for Families First Foundations was founded in 2006 by John Picerne, the CEO of Picerne Military Housing. Since then, it has awarded more than $3 million in scholarships and grants to at least 65 scholarship and 120 grant recipients and initiated more than 40 outreach programs in military communities.

The foundation applied to Joining Forces Community Challenge in September and was chosen as a finalist from more than 300 applications nationwide, said Ballou who is the foundation’s programs manager. The foundation is registered as a nonprofit in Rhode Island, but its three-person staff operates out of a small office in Edmonds.

Voting for a People’s Choice Award winner continues online until 11 a.m., March 16. A panel of judges is expected to select five winners that together with the People’s Choice Award winner will be announced March 16 after voting ends. The White House has not said what prize winners will receive but has announced that they will be recognized at an event in Washington, D.C.

Edmonds resident Maria Montalvo has worked with Picerne since 2000 and is the foundation’s executive director. Being selected as a finalist in the contest is exciting, she said. Montalvo added that she’s encouraging people to vote every day for the People’s Choice Award.

“We have to keep voting,” she said.

Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.

How to Vote

Voting for the People’s Choice Award in the Joining Forces Community Challenge is open online until 11 a.m. on March 16 at joiningforces.challenge.gov. Winners are expected to be announced on the same day.