The Fred Hollows Humanity Award recognises Year 6 students who follow in Fred’s footsteps by making a positive difference in their community. It celebrates students who show compassion, integrity and kindness in their everyday lives, just as Fred did. Since its inception in the ACT in 2012, the Award has recognised more than 1,580 Year 6 students with 17 state and territory Junior Ambassadors. In 2017, the Award expanded nationally for the first time with Year 6 students from all states and territories being eligible for nomination. In 2018, the Fred Hollows Humanity Award’s international inception was held in Hong Kong, recognising around 200 students. Teachers, principals, parents and members of the community are all encouraged to nominate any Year 6 student who embodies the values of compassion, integrity and kindness. Award recipients will be recognised at a presentation ceremony in their state/territory in Term 4. A state/territory Junior Ambassador to the Fred Hollows Humanity Award will also be announced. This Junior Ambassador will extend their humanity by allocating $5,000, donated by Specsavers, to a Fred Hollows Foundation program of their choice, to help end avoidable blindness. Whether it’s helping others, supporting good causes or volunteering, no act of kindness is too small to recognise. For FAQ's about the Humanity Awards, see here. If you know a Year 6 student who lives these values, nominate them below.
Nominations for the Fred Hollows Humanity Award 2020 have now closed. If you have any questions please contact: Cameron Starkey-Gill (02) 8344 1608 [email protected] [email protected]
In 2019, Junior Ambassadors, from each state and territory, were recognised at a Fred Hollows Humanity Award ceremony in their capital city. Below are the 2019 Junior Ambassadors and their nominations:
In 2019, Hikari was voted school vice-captain by the student body as she embodied the values of compassion, integrity and kindness – the same values as those of The Fred Hollows Foundation.
When a teacher at her school had a severe medical event overseas and needed money for medical care, Hikari teamed up with a fellow classmate to organise a successful fundraiser.
Hikari is thoughtful about the world around her and is a strong eco-warrior for the school. She goes out of her way to ensure people feel safe in the playground and that no one is lonely.
Hikari extended her humanity by allocating $5,000, generously donated by Specsavers, to support The Foundation’s child eye health education program in Vietnam.
Lauren was recognised for her commitment to helping the community and her outstanding generosity of spirit.
Incredibly, Lauren has helped restore eyesight to over 600 people in the last five years.
At an early age, Lauren began donating her birthday money and then in Grade 2, she asked friends to donate to charity rather than give her birthday presents.
In Grade 3, Lauren raised money to train a surgeon in Burundi.
In Grade 4, she wrote to her dad’s work social committee encouraging them to join her efforts, and they collected coffee money while she baked Anzac Cookies for a month.
For the past two years she convinced her mum and frineds to do a fundraising walk for Fred Hollows and just last year, Lauren completed the 2019 Eureka Stair Climb with her father and friends.
Lauren extended her humanity by allocating $5,000, generously donated by Specsavers, to support The Fred Hollows Foundation’s eye care program in Kenya.
Imogen is an active and enthusiastic member of her community. She is deputy youth mayor of Burnie Youth Council, a member of the local scout group and a student leader at her school.
She is an avid participant in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, and has developed her own idea for an app that will assist autistic people to recognise social cues based on facial expression. Imogen is a talented writer and has produced poetry about refugees and future leaders, which highlight her integrity, kindness and compassion for others locally and globally. She also shaved her hair to raise money for the Leukaemia Foundation as a Grade 4 student.
Imogen extended her humanity by allocating $5,000, generously donated by Specsavers, to support The Fred Hollows Foundation’s eye care program in Kenya.
Ashlin is a friendly and kind natured person who demonstrates excellent community spirit. She consistently displays compassion for others, offering assistance to adults, peers and smaller children in a variety of settings.
Ashlin is an active member of the Girl Guides Association and strives for excellence in achieving badges for challenges that prepare her for world life, practical living skills and friendship qualities.
Fundraising and volunteering come second nature to Ashlin, who respects the diversity of people’s cultural and personal backgrounds and this is demonstrated in her volunteering at a civic venue on the weekends, serving free meals to the community.
Ashlin extended her humanity by allocating $5,000, generously donated by Specsavers, to support The Fred Hollows Foundation’s eye care program in Kenya.
Aged 7, Zara was so moved by photos of Kenya taken by her principal, that she started asking children to donate their lunch money to help Kenyan students. From there, ‘Kenya Help Day’ was born.
One lunchtime a year, these students design, provision and run stalls to raise money.
Led by Zara, her grade cohort has now run five Kenya Help Day events, raising over $20,000 which has supported two schools in Kenya. In 2019, Zara and her friends ran a 5km fun run with the help of sponsors. Zara is constantly innovating to grow the event.
Zara extended her humanity by allocating $5,000, generously donated by Specsavers, to support The Fred Hollows Foundation’s eye care program in Kenya.
As a school leader, Emerson is a naturally caring and compassionate person.
She took a deaf child under her wing who had no sign language and displayed some antisocial behaviours. Emerson guided him and provided a huge amount of time, patience and persuasion.
She taught the boy how to play with others and taught the other deaf children how to patiently play with him. She has significantly changed his life and now the children all play happily together.
Emerson extended her humanity by allocating $5,000, generously donated by Specsavers, to support The Fred Hollows Foundation’s eye care program in Kenya.
Tage is passionate about suicide prevention and is the Grapevine Group’s youngest volunteer.
He has publicly handed out thousands of Help-a-Mate cards, which list the Mackay region’s life-saving suicide prevention resources. He works on stalls helping to educate the community about free suicide prevention training and where to seek help. Tage has also assisted with collecting gold coin donations and selling raffle tickets. Tage has volunteered for the Grapevine Group for five years and his contribution is an inspiration to many others. When his mother lost a close friend to breast cancer, Tage decided he wanted to become a surgeon to help others and remains focused on this goal.
Tage extended his humanity by allocating $5,000, generously donated by Specsavers, to The Foundation’s Northern Territory Integrated Eye Health Program.
Morgan spearheaded a team of students to run a recycling program called the Cans For Kids Project, organising rosters and collecting, cleaning and sorting recyclables. She sold the recyclables to raise money for underprivileged kids in Indonesia and Ghana, to help offset the cost of their schooling.
Her contribution played a role in seeing five students sponsored at the Light of God Academy in Kasoa, an urban slum area in Ghana. She showed great initiative and responsibility in this project and demonstrated compassion for people less fortunate.
Morgan extended her humanity by allocating $5,000, generously donated by Specsavers, to support The Fred Hollows Foundation’s eye care program in Kenya.
Do you know a Year Six student who follows in Fred's footsteps by making a positive difference in their community? Then nominate them for The Fred Hollows Foundation Humanity Awards.