Colleen Pietersen, founder of the non-profit TLC Outreach Projects in Table View, has been recognised by the mayor for her community work.
Ms Pietersen received the Mayoral Community Service Award for “talent nurturing and development”.
The awards ceremony was to have hosted 50 guests for a sit-down dinner on Tuesday June 29, but it was cancelled due to the level-4 lockdown restrictions. However, each recipient collected their award and received their dinner as a take-away on the evening, according to a City statement.
Mayor Dan Plato said the awards were given to “selfless guardian angels” who made a difference in their communities.
“The Mayoral Community Service Awards are intended to honour the extent of community service work of individuals, groups or organisations across the 24 sub-councils in the city,” he said.
Ms Pietersen has been serving her community for 25 years. Her community projects have helped homeless people and children and include substance-abuse rehabilitation, life-skills training, employment placement, fitness and more.
Classified as an essential service during the national lockdown, TLC has helped families to make ends meet, run feeding schemes and distributed food parcels to the needy.
Ms Pietersen said she felt honoured and humbled to have received the award but she “could not have done it without her team”.
The 58-year-old mother of two sons said her family, including her husband, Derek, who is also TLC’s treasurer, had supported her every step of the way.
