Pride of NZ Awards: Julie King

Julie King admits it's an interesting twist of fate that something as harmful as legal-high addiction could inspire a soup-kitchen service. It all began, she said, when the problems legal highs were causing in her South Waikato town became too clear to ignore. "We even had three youths go by ambulance to hospital. Meanwhile, people using it were becoming scary, angry and paranoid - and it was breaking up families." In May this year she also ran ‘Blankets Galore’ a donation drive for warm blankets, hats, scarves and gloves – which were collected in Rotorua and redistributed to people in need, just in time for winter.