A win in Dunedin last week by West Otago woman Michelle Kennedy will benefit the whole West Otago community.
The West Otago trust raising funds to build a health-care centre in Tapanui received a $10,000 boost after Ms Kennedy won the Otago region Kiwi Battler Award on Tuesday.
Ms Kennedy received $1000 for herself and $10,000 for the West Otago Health Centre, her chosen charity.
The Otago award was one of 13 regional finals in the Morgan Foundation's philanthropic initiative, started by economist Gareth Morgan.
This brings the amount raised by the trust to about $110,000.
Trust fundraising chairwoman Annalie Downie said while that did not sound like much, the trust's fundraising efforts had only really begun in the past six months, and she was pleased with the amount.
The trust's fundraising committee had recently released rooms in both the health centre and the associated rest-home for sponsorship.
This was expected to generate about $940,000 of the $1.5 million the trust needed to contribute to the $5.9 million project, leaving only $560,000 for West Otago to raise, Ms Downie said.
Thirty-four rooms were available for sponsorship, which seemed like a good option for people who wanted to contribute something on a larger scale, or for families in the area who wanted to leave a legacy, she said.
For their donations, people would get naming rights in either the health centre or the rest-home, but not a guarantee of occupancy at a later date, she said.
Other trust fundraising initiatives include a Beer Fest, this Saturday in the West Otago Show Grounds, stock drives and a nude calendar.
Ms Downie said West Otago locals had been so keen to support the nude calendar, there were lots of great photos and the trust was considering releasing it as either a 14 or 16-month calendar, which is due for release in November.
