Carinthian Award – “People with a heart are the equipment of society”

“It’s about the heart, it’s about warmth. It’s about people with a heart!”, says Hannes Mößlacher, editor-in-chief of “Kärntner Krone”, who opens the People with a Heart gala at the Wörthersee Congress Center in Pörtschach.

But before the party starts: what are people of the heart anyway? “They are the ones who hold our lives together – in families, among friends, in clubs, in families, in our entire country. People with a heart are the core of our society,” says Mößlacher. Mayor Silvia Häusl-Benz agrees: “Every community needs people with a heart. Thanks to the Kronen Zeitung for bringing this to our attention!”

People with a heart are the building block of society
Without the voluntariness that many in our society not only practice, but actually experience every day, our lives would be different…

“Let’s try it together, let’s imagine if we had no volunteers: what would we be without fire brigades, without water rescuers, without so many others?” State Governor Peter Kaiser said at the gala: “Therefore: thank you, thank you, thank you! That’s what I mean by society: helping and doing things together!”

Lina Rogy is the first person to receive her award: with a fundraising campaign she caused a wave of willingness to help and saved the farm of a woman from Upper Austria – without even knowing her!

Fabian Buchacher stands for camaraderie and cohesion – he is an emergency responder with the Red Cross and part-time air rescuer, but is also involved as a fire chief and in mountain rescue operations! “As a child, Fabian always played with fire trucks and rescue vehicles,” remembers his aunt Gabi Niescher.

Kerstin Radl “is a person with a heart because she is always there for everyone,” say her friends and colleagues – the medical assistant was the first fully trained female mountain rescuer in her local office. She would like to use her sincere award and the prize to ‘invite the mountain rescue team for a big snack’, she laughs on stage.

Sandra Vergari is a trainer for Special Olympics athletes – and as such works for Lebenshilfe in Spittal, where she has been guiding and encouraging and challenging people with disabilities in sports for several years.

Martina Gebert stands up for our animal friends: “I am there for all marmots, even the distrustful ones,” she says, happy with her award. The 58-year-old has been spending the summer on the Großglockner High Alpine Road for 15 years and takes care of the marmots there.

Reinhild Wendl is also known as Mama Wendy – she trains young women in Tanzania, Africa, to become seamstresses and shows them this way: “Girls and women are not forced to get married. Wendl will be on site in Africa on Saturday!” she accepts her prize and distinction from Adalbert Holzfeind, who nominated her as a person of the heart.

Heinrich Strießnig donated his blood 150 times in his life – saving 150 lives. “I would like to adhere to the motto of the Red Cross: out of love for the people,” emphasizes Strießnig, who is now enjoying his blood donation pension and is looking forward to skiing in the winter.

Anna Bruner laughs on stage: “The secret that I’m so fit? “Yes, I don’t know that either,” says the cheerful 82-year-old – she delivers the parish news on her bicycle and is also committed to helping her age group!

Christine Wuksch is there day in and day out for families with children with heart conditions – she more than deserves the Heart Person award. Unfortunately, she was unable to attend the gala itself, so her children Hannah and Jonas accepted her award.

Hubert Offner makes music passionately – for his life and for others! He is invited to retirement homes, kindergartens, schools and funerals to play his harmonicas.

Mia Isabella Obersteiner is nine years old and has a big heart for animals: With her craft campaign, Maria Saaler collected donations on her own initiative for the Tiko and Garden of Eden animal shelters. And because her birthday is the day before the Heartwarming Gala, in addition to the award and prize, she also receives a birthday cake from the cat café.

Nico Kobald was there for his mother when she was seriously ill: “That time was not easy,” the 19-year-old remembers. “But for me it was always self-evident,” says the soldier, who is also a firefighter.

Raphael Dionysius is a lifesaver himself, but that is not enough for him: in his spare time he also looks for other lifesavers. At the age of 17, he organized a fundraising campaign where potential donors could register to help leukemia patients.

Fritzi’s theater groupa small club from Spittal, not only provides entertainment for its viewers, but also supports them: the club collects donations for people who need help. Members were once able to finance dolphin therapy for a sick child with 6,000 euros.

The Friessnitz-Rosenbach volunteer fire brigade from Rosental is also a friendly club – and the members know: “We look at each other during operations. In this fire brigade there are no problems with young talent: “We have a lot of support and are lucky that our youth firefighters do not do that!” stop, but after their youth work has gone into active service.” This will be rewarded with an award and a voucher for new equipment!

The Klopein Water Rescue Service After saving a life in the summer, he more than deserved first place in the club voting. “You can only wish for a team like this!”, says Kurt Smolle, head of operations at the Klopein water rescue service, enthusiastically.

In the end, all that remains is to say: Thank you to all the people with a heart!