The Swannell Family, Napier
Community Spirit Award
The Swannell family spends its spare time feeding Napier's homeless with their mobile soup kitchen. The "soup truck" has operated weekly for more than a year. Kevin Swannell, who attended with wife Kiri and five of their six children, said he was "overwhelmed" at the award.
"We weren't expecting it," Mr Swannell said. "It [the soup kitchen] is not a task that we do - it's an expression of our lives."
Wade Kelly, Hastings
Bravery/Heroism Award
Wade Kelly saved the lives of four people who got caught in a dangerous rip and were swept 70m offshore at Waimarama Beach last year.
Mr Kelly was on the beach when he heard screams for help from distraught onlookers, before he entered the ocean with his surfboard.
He brought two kids ashore, before making two more tiring trips through the breaking waves, bringing a man and woman back on his surfboard.
Kathleen Mato, Wairoa
Environmental award
Kathleen Mato is the leader of the Whangawehi Catchment Management Group, which protects and improves water quality in the Whangawehi catchment area.
She started the Whangawehi water project on her own.
Ms Mato called clean waterways and the planting of native trees a "devotion and real passion".
Wayne Stevens, Wellington
Emergency Services award
Wayne Stevens has volunteered with Land Search and Rescue for the past 30 years, and been a volunteer paramedic with Wellington Free Ambulance for eight years.
By day he is a Treasury analyst and every Friday night he's out with the ambulance crew.
"I love working with the team, getting out and helping people.
"It's a busy life but it's just great to be able to do something for others," he said.
Colin Anderson, Palmerston North
Fundraiser of the year award
Colin Anderson has cycled more than 16,000km and raised more than $17,000 in support of CanTeen.
The former Dannevirke man, 66, had to face his own cancer battle, in the form of prostate cancer surgery in 2008, and was only given the all clear following heart surgery just before he tackled the gruelling 1000km Forrest Grape Ride in Marlborough in April.
Hai Tong Too, Napier
Lifetime achievement
Hai Tong Too has been an advocate for minority groups in the region for more than 40 years.
He is the immediate past president of the Multicultural Association Hawkes Bay.
From 1997 to 2009, he served as the Hawkes Bay Chinese Association president and is also a founding member of the Ethnic Association in the area. He was also vice-president of the New Zealand Chinese Association.
