A panel of three judges had a tough job whittling down the list of Hawke's Bay Kiwi Battlers to just five worthy nominees. Now it is up to the public to vote on the Kiwi Battler website and decide a regional winner.
The Kiwi Battler competition has been set up by Gareth and Joanne Morgan to reward members of the community who have poured their hearts and souls into achieving results, "not for themselves but for their communities", Kiwi Battler spokeswoman Cathy Magiannis said.
A public vote will decide the winner for each region, and people can vote for their favorite Kiwi Battler from today until September 1.
The regional winners are to be announced soon after voting closes, and will be awarded $10,000 for their chosen charity and $1000 for themselves.
A national winner will be named in October, with the successful nominee getting another $20,000 for their charity and $2000 for themselves.
The Hawkes Bay region's finalists:
Brooke & Sandy Ibbotson. They started Napier Community Patrols, a volunteer service which assists local police in combating graffiti, monitoring CCTV cameras and more recently patrolling Napier city on Saturday nights to keep the streets safe.
Sallie Dunford, who has focused on helping unemployed Napier youths with programmes like Primary Colours Learning, the Creative Living Skills Charitable Trust, and Back To Basics Community Centre and Gardens. She also wants to expand these types of services throughout New Zealand.
Henare O'Keefee, who founded U-Turn Trust, which aims to change attitudes in Flaxmere by setting up community gardens and home ownership projects, combating family violence, mentoring troubled youths and helping to reintegrate released prisoners into society.
Ros Rowe, who developed the Leg Up Trust, a horse-riding and equine care programme that aims to help youths who suffer social, behavioral or emotional problems.
Neil Hatcher, who has been chairman of Age Concern Flaxmere for 11 years, volunteering 30 hours a week at the Age Concern office, with duties including manning the phones to helping cook and dish upregular $6 lunches.
He is also a member of the Advisory Group for the Health & Disability Commission in Auckland, the advisory group Options in Hawke's Bay, and the Clinical Support group for Mid/Central District Health Boards.
More detailed profiles of the regions top five Kiwi Battlers will appear in Hawke's Bay Today.
To vote, go to:
www.kiwibattler.com/vote
Chance to vote for Bay's Kiwi Battler
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