Two women supporting thousands of families through their charities and an Aboriginal elder who has been mentoring young people for 30 years have been named Westfield Local Heroes for 2022 at Westfield Chermside.
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Kerry Gordon | Precious Wings
Kerry Gordon, founder of Precious Wings charity, is this year’s Local Hero, receiving a $20,000 grant for her organisation. Ms Gordon is a paediatric nurse practitioner working in the Paediatric Palliative Care Service.
The creation of Precious Wings was driven by the experience of the loss of a child. Through the charity, Ms Gordon offers love, hope, understanding, and support to families, so they never feel alone after their bereavement. The charity also educates healthcare staff about caring for bereaved families.
Rebecca Adams | First Light Widowed Association
Like Ms Gordon, Rebecca Adams is also touching people’s lives. After losing her husband at 33, six weeks after their wedding, Ms Adams put her energy into helping others in her position.
She is one of the founders of First Light Widowed Association, which provides practical and emotional support to thousands of people.
As a finalist of Westfield Local Heroes, Ms Adams received $5,000 to help her continue their work of her organisation.
Gary Cobbo | Kurbungui Youth and Family Development
Another finalist who received a $5,000 grant for his organisation was Uncle Gary Cobbo. He is a respected Aboriginal leader who has dedicated over three decades of his life mentoring and supporting hundreds of local young people.
At Kurbungui Youth and Family Development, he is always ready to offer people food and a safe place to have a yarn, efforts that he hopes will lead to life-changing interventions.
Pam Wilson, National Community Experience Manager and creator of the Westfield Local Heroes program congratulated the recipients and thanked the communities for casting their votes to help determine the 2022 Westfield Local Heroes.
“As we celebrate our fifth year of the Westfield Local Heroes program, we are once again overwhelmed by the inspiring nominations this year. Through the success of the program, we are proud to be able to continue to recognise and reward everyday people doing extraordinary work in our communities,” Ms Wilson said.
About the Westfield Local Heroes
Scentre Group’s Westfield Local Heroes program was established in 2018 to celebrate community role models whose work benefits others across a broad range of sectors, including family and youth support, health and wellbeing, inclusion and equity, community resilience and environmental sustainability.
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They are nominated and voted by their communities, and they represent a diverse range of sectors. Westfield will award one Westfield Local Hero per Westfield centre a $20,000 grant for the organisation or group they represent, whilst finalists receive a $5,000 grant each.