Young people from across the municipality were recognised at the first Hume Young Leader Awards ceremony last month.
As part of the new Hume council initiative – which recognises young people aged 12 to 24 making a positive contribution to the community – more than 40 nominations were received across seven award categories.
Sunbury resident, 20-year-old Kara Gifford, was awarded Young Advocacy Leader, for her work raising awareness about the struggles of people with allergies or allergic diseases.
She said it was “shocking in a good way” to have been recognised by Hume council for her work with awareness project Allergy 250K and for taking part in Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health’s Kid x Plus talks.
“I want to be able to make a difference to young people, especially with allergy and allergic disease, and allow them to be able to experience as normal a young adulthood as they can,” Ms Gifford said.
“With support and proper education, which I didn’t necessarily have as a teenager.”
Hume mayor Joseph Haweil said council was thrilled to officially celebrate this year’s cohort of bright young leaders at the first Hume Young Leader Awards.
“The awards are part of council’s Connect & Thrive Plan and is an important step for us to take to uplift and empower our young residents,” he said.
“To all the awards finalists, we are inspired by your commitment to making Hume a better place and you do it all by leading with positivity.
“Thank you for your contributions to the community and we are excited to see what you achieve next.”
To see the list of winners, head to: bit.ly/3XECEC2
Elsie Lange
