Newry woman Kate Mirams was today named the Wellington Shire Council Citizen of the Year at Council's annual Australia Day Awards luncheon.
Kate has been a consistent contributor to her local communities of Newry and Boisdale for many years and was today acknowledged and congratulated for her hard work and contribution to making Wellington a great place to live.
Some of Kate's achievements include extensive involvement in the Boisdale Consolidated School's student kitchen and new multi-purpose room developments, along with her guidance and drive to establish new school values and its strategic plan.
Kate was also instrumental in the redevelopment of the Upper Maffra Mechanics Institute Hall, using her considerable governance and finance skills to apply for and gain a grant for $218,000 to have the hall refurbished.
In other awards, A Better Life for Foster Kids was awarded Group of the Year, in recognition of extensive work providing Crisis Cases and other items to foster families and children who cannot live with their biological families through no fault of their own.
A Better Life for Foster Kids Inc founder Heather Baird travels all over Gippsland assisting children and foster families, along with advocating for their needs across all levels of Government.
Due to mass cancellations of events in 2020, the Event of the Year category was not awarded this year, but replaced with a Covid Hero award. This category was for those who went above and beyond to assist their community during the Covid-19 pandemic. The winner of this award was Cathy Cook from Yarram.
Cathy worked incredibly hard in her community to ensure children involved in the Scouting movement did not miss out on any programming during the pandemic, delivering items to children's homes and conducting programs online so they could all participate.
Cathy also co-ordinated local volunteers to sew face masks for the vulnerable and disadvantaged, along with delicious meals prepared by the volunteers, were delivered to homes.
Wellington Shire Council Mayor Garry Stephens said:
"The year 2020 threw us many challenges and the beauty of these awards is that we were able to acknowledge and congratulate those who rose to those challenges and kept going in the face of adversity.
"Some of the people here at the awards luncheon today have become shining examples of what it means to step up to the plate and lead a community through turmoil.
"Congratulations to all the nominees and the winners on being exemplary leaders in your communities."
Summary:
- Citizen of the Year Kate Mirams
- Group of the Year A Better Life for Foster Kids
- Covid Hero award winner Cathy Cook
- Young Citizen of the Year - not awarded
