Four mornings a week, Mike and Maud Burke drive the short distance from their home in Papatoetoe to Middlemore Hospital to collect the meals for their Meals on Wheels run and then set off to deliver hot nutritious food to 18 people. The trip takes them one and a half hours a day.

For a man in his 90th year, Ron Donnelly is committed to keeping active. He still has his driver’s licence, talks or texts his two children nearly every day and retains a sharp wit. And through Meals on Wheels, Ron gets something he deems just as important – “variety”. 

Napier local Joan Cockburn received a Service Award which recognises her 60 years of service to Red Cross.

Southland community has welcomed former refugees with warmth and kind hearts as they rebuild their lives in Aotearoa New Zealand. Samuel, Nelson, and Leudy are just three of the 353 former refugees who have come to Southland since New Zealand Red Cross began providing settlement services in Invercargill in 2018. They all had to leave their original homelands – countries such as Colombia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and they bring with them a wide range of skills and diverse cultures.

Amelia and Hamish MacArthur both received an Honorary Life Membership, awarded to people who’ve given remarkable service and dedication to Red Cross.