It is hard to think of many projects that have such a wide reach as the Howick Community Awards. These recognise those people in the greater Howick community that achieved excellence in their field of endeavour and made a contribution to the community. The Awards helped to bring the areas of Botany East Tamaki, Howick and Pakuranga together as one enlarged Howick Community as defined by the new civic boundaries and to raise Rotary’s profile. This was a project of the combined Rotary Clubs of Howick, Botany East Tamaki, Half Moon Bay, Pakuranga and Somerville Howick.
There were more than 60 nominations for the five award categories and the Award recipients were recognised at a sell-out gala dinner on Tuesday 1 May at the Pakuranga United Rugby Club. The five categories were:
Citizen Award for outstanding service to the community or volunteer organisation
Employee Award for outstanding service or contribution to any organisation
Arts Award for an emerging or established artists
Young person award (16-25) for achievement or potential in study, work or training
Environment award for a person or organisation that has made a meritorious contribution to the environment
Local hero(s) award for voluntary service in the community
Publicity for the awards was through extensive use of posters and flyers in the community such as libraries, CABs etc plus community newspapers and community radio.
