For years, Hannah Andrevski has been helping some of the region's most vulnerable children through her charity Roundabout Canberra.
Her service to the community was recognised on Friday, when she was named the 2024 Canberra Citizen of the Year.
The award is presented annually to outstanding members of the community.
Receiving the award, Ms Andrevski said she was in shock.
"I care very deeply about our community. I don't do the work that I do for any form of recognition but it means a lot to be a proud Canberran and to receive something like this," she said.
Ms Andrevski, who is the charity founder and chief executive, later added that it was "amazing to see how Canberra has rallied behind our organisation".
"Without that community, we just wouldn't be able to do what we're doing," she said.
Roundabout provides families in need with baby and children's items, which it distributes through social services and community organisations.
A public servant by trade, Ms Andrevski founded Roundabout in 2018 after struggling to find an easy way to donate items her children no longer needed to local families.
After connecting with women's refuges around the city and Karinya House, a charity that supports pregnant women, she realised "how much of a need there was" for an organisation like Roundabout.
"It really made it clear to me that there wasn't anything like this that existed in Canberra and that not only would it help local families, but it would also help the social services and community organisations that are working really hard to support them," she said.
In its first year, the charity helped some 350 children. That number has continued to grow since, with more than 4000 children receiving donations from Roundabout last year.
So far, it has assisted more than 700 children this year.
Ms Andrevski has attributed that growth in part to the community's recognition of Roundabout as a reliable service.
But she added that COVID and the cost-of-living crisis has also exacerbated the need for help within the community.
The charity this month put out a call for donations after struggling with demand.
Ms Andrevski said the ACT had between 8000 and 9000 children living in poverty and many other families doing it tough.
"We know that we're not yet meeting the demand and we want to be able to do that," she said, speaking on ambitions for the charity.
Ms Andrevski said the charity is supported by 250 active volunteers, a volunteer board and a small team of part time and casual staff.
Presenting the Canberra Citizen of the Year award on Friday, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the accolade recognised Ms Andrevski's "outstanding commitment" to families in the region.
"Roundabout Canberra has kept dignity at the front of the charitable efforts," he said.
"In this nomination and citation it was very clear that there is a strong belief in the nominees and indeed in the ethos of this organisation, that everyone regardless of their circumstances deserves to be treated with kindness and with respect."
Ms Andrevski's work has also been recognised when she was named Westfield Local Hero and awarded the Galent Management Consulting Profound Influence Award in 2019. The following year she was a nominee for the 2020 ACT Local Hero award.
