Community Champions Down to Six Finalists

Source: The Dominion Post

After more than 400 nominations, a shortlist of charities, groups and individuals who battle against the odds or go the extra mile for their community has been decided.

The Kiwi Battler competition has been set up by Gareth and Joanne Morgan, whose trust will award $30,000 to the winner's favourite charity. A selection committee has shortlisted up to six entrants from each of the 13 regions. The public will be asked to vote for regional winners from today till September 1. The regional winners will get $1000 for themselves and $10,000 for their favourite charity. A national winner will be named in October, with the winner getting another $20,000 for their charity and $2000 for themselves.

Kiwi Battler spokeswoman Cathy Magiannis said the finalists had shown all the qualities of the battler spirit. "They go the extra mile, overcome obstacles and achieve results, not for themselves, but for their communities. "It was very hard making a shortlist because there were so many fantastic entries. We had to have a number of goes deciding the final shortlist. It's great that the finalists will get some well-deserved recognition for their efforts."

The Wellington region's finalists are:

• Colin Ryder, who has been a Forest & Bird volunteer for 20 years and helped with the creation of the Taputeranga Marine Reserve.
• Rachael Ford, who started the road safety group Campaign Against Drugs on Roads.
• Treena and Marcus van Rijssel. They have taken more than 50 pregnant mothers into their home to teach them parenting skills.
• Andor Cseh, who runs the Conductive Education Centre for people with motor and neurological disorders.
• Andrew Walklin, a cystic fibrosis and diabetes sufferer who is the president of Tinakori Lions and a junior cricket coach.
• Lyn Hawkins, who has Friedreich's ataxia, which affects the nervous system, and is involved in the Wellington branch of the Christian Fellowship for the Disabled.

Dr Morgan, a philanthropist, fund manager and economist, is the father of Trade Me founder Sam Morgan. He helped bankroll the launch of Trade Me and was one of 10 partners paid a total of $750 million when Trade Me was sold to Fairfax Media in 2006.

Dr Morgan gave his $47m windfall from the sale to charity. He said he was humbled and awed by the people nominated for his competition.