Kindness Collective chief executive Sarah Page says it's "really cool" the group is nominated in the community category of tomorrow night's New Zealander of the Year Awards.
Page told Breakfast she and her husband started the Collective "after a period of challenges".
"My son was diagnosed with autism when he was really, really young, and we were able to access support for him quite easily because we had the resources to do so," Page said.
"And it was really apparent from being in other community groups and talking to other families that, unless you had the means to do so, you can't get those resources so it was just a real eye-opener for our family that there was a lot of people out there doing it really tough."
So, the couple and their friends set out to make their local community in West Auckland "a little bit more kind".
Now, the group is a network of over 35,000 people around the country.
"So we are essentially a matchmaking agency, and we match those in need with those who have more to share," she said, adding that it's "really cool actually" to be nominated for the Awards.
"For me, it's a real special recognition because it's not about me, it's not about our team, it's about our whole community, so it's about everybody from Whangārei to Queenstown who donate every week... it's about everybody."
A full list of New Zealander of the Year Awards nominees is available here.
The Awards will be livestreamed on 1News.co.nz from 7.30pm on Thursday.
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