Bank Australia People’s Choice Award

We’re so excited to open up voting in The Kindness Cup for the Bank Australia People’s Choice Award and share some of the stories of hope and kindness that touched our hearts.

We’ve had the tough task of whittling down entries and have chosen some of our favourite stories below. Cast your eyes over the loveliness, feel all the warm fuzzies and then vote for your favourite in the form below. The People’s Choice winner will be featured alongside nine other stories in our next print issue and nab a bunch of cool stuff detailed below.

Both the People’s Choice winner and one lucky voter will also win a $200 voucher from the good people at Outland Denim.

Voting is open until 31 January and remember… kindness is contagious!

A big thanks to Bank Australia for helping us launch The Kindness Cup! One of Australia’s few B Corp-certified banks, Bank Australia believes in a fair and just world – working with their customers to use money as a force for good to help create positive impact for people, their communities and the planet.

VOTING CLOSES 11.59PM AEST 31 JANUARY 2020

The Regional Champion

I am nominating Kristin for her role as founder of The Merry Muster. In 2019, Kristin simply wanted to take a carload of friends out to the small Queensland country towns of Dalby and Bell, to spend their Christmas dollars in small country businesses to make a small difference in the lives of communities hard affected by bushfires, drought and floods. From that simple call out on social media, Kristin was inundated with interest which turned into a busload of people heading out in 2019, to a whopping seven buses and 350 people who headed to Stanthorpe and Warwick in 2020.

The Koala Hugger

I am particularly proud of my mum Sharon’s dedication to rescuing and rehabilitating koalas. She recently completed training and drives around with a laundry basket, towels, welder’s gloves and a net in the back of her car – always on standby in case she receives a call (often in the middle of the night). She was particularly busy on the back of the bushfires at the beginning of 2020, regularly going on ‘black walks’ after a fire in search of animals in need of water and treatment for their scorched, little paws. Every Friday she volunteers at the Port Stephens Koala Sanctuary, where she administers medication, provides fresh eucalyptus leaves, and counts poo (no joke – 100 ‘scats’ is the goal of a healthy koala). Mum knows the koalas by name, their unique characteristics (“Marie is so gentle, Patu so inquisitive”), as well as their back stories.

Mother Of Kindness

Five years ago, Kiren founded a charity, Little Things For Tiny Tots, to provide baby supplies to mothers in need in Perth, particularly those who are in poverty and in shelters. Since this time she has worked tirelessly, volunteering her time to get the charity off the ground, all while raising her own young family and working part time – particularly during the pandemic when efforts of other volunteers were restricted. Through the charity, mothers in need not only gain much needed baby supplies, but little extras as morale boosters such as personalised cards, baby books and baby toys.

The Job Keeper

Dani has been an angel to so many during COVID but particularly to visa holders working in the Melbourne hospitality scene who lost their income but were not included in any government relief packages. She campaigned for these visa holders to be included in relief packages, worked with the restaurant Attica and producers to provide them with food, promoted their new businesses, and helped in so many ways I’m sure aren’t visible: she’s helping fund new restaurants, revive and rehome unused bikes and so much more.

The Guardian Angel

Posy has worked tirelessly for the community for so many years from adopting unwanted children, volunteering for Meals On Wheels, working in nursing homes, giving time in her local charity stores and minding pets for people so they can take a much needed holiday. She also bakes and makes chocolates for fundraisers and school fetes. So many lives have been touched, helped and blessed thanks to her work – she’s a true saint!

Driving Connection

Jan provides free, safe and comfortable driving for elderly country ladies. She belongs to two groups, Creative Textiles and a social sewing group and throughout 2020 collected elderly members of the groups (80 and above) to drive them to doctor and specialist appointments and the group meetings. She even took two of these ladies on a 3000km driving holiday, to cheer them up because of COVID. The ladies Jan helps are thriving at home and are connected to society in a positive way. She enables them to access services, participate in community events and allows them to give back to these community groups as they are talented artists, willing to share their knowledge with other group members.

Selfless Style

Katie has been providing all kinds of free resources to help people stay happy and sane during COVID-19 – from guided virtual walks and meditation sessions to yoga and online workshops. She did all this while adapting to living with a disability after she unexpectedly went deaf in one ear. Working non-stop for more than a decade now on her Sustainability in Style online communication venture, she works really hard all the time and volunteers all the time to help friends, students, local businesses and online contact to develop sustainable habits.

The Green Hero

Maggie is an incredible champion of local community projects, as well as for broader sustainability and refugee support programs. She has gone above and beyond during the COVID-19 crisis, voluntarily running and delivering so many Zoom meetings and gatherings to keep us all mobilised (to continue to work for a better world) and connected, always with kindness, warmth and genuine care. She has also found new ways to deliver and support on-ground action, including doing lots of planting, local greening and biodiversity projects.

Neighbourhood Watch

Lynda was a total stranger to my husband and I, although she was a very distant neighbour and had seen us walking around our neighbourhood. My husband had seriously injured his arm in October and had to have surgery, which meant he could not drive or use his arm for several weeks. I use a power wheelchair and no longer drive, so this made it difficult for us in many ways. When walking past one day, Lynda had seen my husband in the front yard and asked what happened to him as he nursed his arm in a sling. A few days later, she knocked on our door and gave us a huge container of chicken vegetable soup, which she had made just for us, as well as her and her husband’s contact details so we could call them if we needed anything. About a week later she brought a frittata around. Her small act of kindness almost brought me to tears and gave me faith in the goodness of people and the importance of having a supportive community.

The Good Nurse

Alana is a nurse on the same ward as me at the Children’s Hospital. I’m 60 and Alana is 26. We’ve all had a tough year, but mine fell in a heap after our ward was closed and both my parents became sick and my husband’s early onset dementia really worsened. Alana was on holidays but as soon as she heard I was really struggling she contacted me and made sure I got help. Her caring words of understanding and encouragement were amazing. She was 2000km away, but called my friends to find out my address and organised the yummiest Italian meal to be delivered via Uber. When she came back to Perth she organised a very special day out – I was feeling better by the time she came back, but this whole day she set aside was something so kind and special.

State Of Care

Sophie went well out of her way to serve during the recent lockdowns. When Melbourne went into Stage 4 Lockdown, Sophie left her home state of Tasmania, her friends, family and her work to donate her time and skills to help Melbourne undertake the enormous job of COVID-19 swabbing alongside the Australian Defence Force. She felt powerless in Tasmania, but knew she had skills to help out in this area. Behind her mask and PPE she interacted with the people to reassure them when they were scared and anxious as the situation unfolded.

Crafted With Love

My mum Michelle lovingly handcrafted a “Love Letter To Rosebud” – a handmade love heart covered in over 500 paper flowers to adorn our local cafe window. Her vision was for people to “see with love” and her act of kindness benefits our whole community! It’s a simple act of kindness and joy for locals and visitors to enjoy.

Brewing Inclusivity

Sue is a beautifully generous and loving person who has gone above and beyond this year to help her co-workers and the people she supports to thrive during lockdown. She works at the Caboolture Community Work Cooperative, a social enterprise that provides a form of employment for people who live in the Caboolture area who have a disability or mental illness. Putting her co-workers first during lockdown, Sue made sure that all the people with disabilities from her cafe felt seen and heard, engaging with them through Zoom when that was the only option and ensuring the security of normal work.

The Hand That Feeds

Jimmy has been our neighbour for eight years and he has always been amazing, the kind of person who is always ready to help you out…but in 2020 he has really gone above and beyond. He’s part of a group called Community Friends that gives out free food every week in our suburb to those in need. In 2020, the numbers of people in need and facing food insecurity skyrocketed and Community Friends has become a huge operation, often supplying food to hundreds of people who have waited in line for hours. The problem was, when the pandemic first hit, there really weren’t enough supplies to feed all those in need. Jimmy used to be a very well known caterer here in West End so he sprung into action. This year, he has used all of his connections with local shops and grocers to source leftover and extra food for Community Friends. He spends hours each week driving around collecting the food and then helps to hand it out every week.

Spoonful Of Sugar

Briohny and I work in a very busy pharmacy together which has been absolute chaos since COVID -19. We do free delivery runs but sometimes people will ring after cut-off time or late in the day. Bry will go out of her way and drive around our town in her car delivering things in her lunch break or after she finishes a long shift so everyone can get what they need and making sure nobody has been left without essentials.

The Storyteller

My neighbour Cynthia is a single, 72-year-old artist. When COVID first struck and we were in full isolation mode, it was very hard on her being stuck alone in her home. We have many neighbours with small children and Cynthia arranged story time once or twice a week via Zoom. She dressed up in various costumes and read from a collection of children’s books that she has. She even had the children draw along with the stories and make up alternate plots.

A Class Act

Sarah is a phenomenal educator who created a ‘Kindness Challenge’ for teachers and students, which I personally used in my classroom. The kids were so excited each day to see what the new act of kindness was for them to enact. It spread so much positivity and excitement in what has been a crazy year. She also personally messages teachers resources and assistance, which must take her an incredible amount of time in her already busy schedule. She spreads messages of gratitude and encourages people to spread small acts of kindness on a daily basis through little reminder posts online.

Out Of The Box

Emma is the founder of the Happy Boxes Project, however she prefers to say that the project ‘found’ her. She spent five years working, living and learning in remote communities in the Northern Territory as a teacher, youth mentor, family educator and leader in trauma informed practice in the classroom. It was during this time that she realised how difficult it was to access basic needs such as food and toiletries. She originally set out to gather donations for a youth wellbeing program that she ran, but as people learnt about the project (and the crazy price tags found in remote stores), she was completely bombarded with beautiful donations from all over Australia. And so the Happy Boxes was born and started to spread happiness out to other remote communities in need. It has now grown to support more than 25 communities, over four states.

Voting has now closed. Stay tuned for our next issue (due out in late February) when we name our ten kindness champions!

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:

– Nominee must be an Australian or New Zealand resident
– Act of kindness must have been carried out in 2020
– Act of kindness must not be associated with the core operations of a business (e.g. profits donated to a cause/charity)
– Judging (via a panel) will consider community, social and environmental impact
– A group may enter, but will be considered as one entrant
– Entry is not open to employees of Peppermint or competition partners

EACH WINNER WILL RECEIVE:

– Handmade Kindness Cup by ceramicist Bonnie Hislop
– A feature in Issue 49 of Peppermint
– A year’s subscription to Peppermint
– A Biome self-care pack worth over $70 (1 x Biome Body Soap Bar – Hemp, Shea & Clay 110g;
1 x Biome 100% Jojoba Oil Australian 100ml; 1 x Biome Scrub + Soak “Herbal Heaven”; and 1 x Kakadu Plum Co Dark Chocolate Bar)

THE BANK AUSTRALIA PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNER WILL RECEIVE:

VOTERS FOR THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WILL GO IN THE DRAW TO RECEIVE:

– A year’s subscription to Peppermint
– $200 voucher to Outland Denim