The Southland Times, 18 August 2010 Preserving the Tuatapere RSA and leaving it in a sound financial position before he dies are the reasons one Southland man agreed to be nominated for the Kiwi Battler competition.
Syd Harvey, of Tuatapere, has been a member of the RSA for 65 years and it is his life ambition it is left in a good position financially."Becoming the Kiwi Battler recipient would achieve this goal for me," Mr Harvey said. The Morgan Foundation will donate $10,000 to each regional winner's favourite charity and $1000 to each winner. The national winner will get an additional $20,000 for their charity and $2000 for themselves. A total of 67 Kiwi Battler finalists have been chosen. Southland has four nominees and now a public vote will decide the regional winners.
Gareth and Joanne Morgan's charitable trust launched the competition to celebrate and reward Kiwis who go the extra mile. Competition administrator Justine Boyle said they were thrilled with the number of nominations.
Southland's four nominees are:
- Syd Harvey: A member of the RSA since returning from World War II, he is the welfare officer and former past president.
- Kevin Wall: During 40 years of community fundraising, voluntary and other work for many groups, he has raised more than $150,000 to send Kiwis overseas for lifesaving organ transplants. Founder of the NZ Liver Transplant procedures service at Auckland Hospital, he raised almost $3million to set it up.
- Russell Everett: He has coached rowing voluntarily at the Waihopai club for more than 30 years starting with novices. He has written a personalised fitness programme for his teams of rowers.
- Jenny Campbell: Initiator of the Invercargill Environment Centre and a freelance writer. She has also been the secretary of Forest and Bird Society for 25 years.
The Otago finalists are: Lani Evans, Anita Vermeer, Michelle Kennedy, Sharon Bain and Murray Bell.
To vote go to www.kiwibattler.com or names and telephone numbers can be faxed to (04) 4730643. Voting opens today and closes on September 1.w Syd Harvey was nominated for the Kiwi Battler award by Shirley Whyte.