Hospital philanthropist Mark Dunajtschik wins Wellingtonian of the Year award

Wednesday, 6 December 2017

Wellingtonian of the year 2017 Mark Dunajtschik was recognised for his long history of philanthropic work.

The man whose generosity is funding a $50 million children's hospital has been recognised as the 2017 Wellingtonian of the Year.

Mark Dunajtschik was named the supreme winner at The Dominion Post 2017 'Wellys' Awards at Te Papa on Wednesday night.

Mark Dunajtschik also took out the Wellingtonian of the year, 2017, Business Winner, pictured with ANZ commercial banker Pat Hoult.

The 82-year-old property investor, who also won the business category, was recognised for his decades of philanthropic work.

'Wellington has been good to me and I want to be good to Wellington,' Dunajtschik said.

Wellingtonian of the Year 2017, Youth Winner, Tabby Besley was recognised for her work with rainbow youth.

L-R: Wellingtonian of the year 2017 Mark Dunajtschik with Dominion Post editor Bernadette Courtney.

* Wellington to get new $50m children's hospital paid for by property magnate

* Hurricanes skipper Dane Coles crowned 2016 Wellingtonian of the Year**

L-R: Serena Cox and Rob Wilson with Toni Hogg from Green Cabs. Serena and Rob were awarded Wellingtonian of the Year 2017, Environment Winner, for their work with Ghostfishing NZ.

Dunajtschik migrated to Wellington from Germany in 1958 after an earlier skiing tour of New Zealand.

His extensive history of charitable contributions includes starting the helicopter rescue service Life Flight Trust, and funding it for its first 10 years; supporting the Wellington Free Ambulance; disability provider Hohepa; and being one of the first private donors to the Michael Fowler Centre.

After being approached to make a donation to a new children's hospital, Dunajtschik went one better, and decided to fund and build it himself.

He announced the $50m gift in July this year.

'My philosophy is people that are born with a healthy body and mind can look after themselves, and those unfortunate to be born with or suffering ill health need our help,' he said at the time.

Dunajtschik rose from being a toolmaker to starting his own engineering business in Wellington, before taking up property investment. He has been responsible for building several commercial properties throughout Wellington, including the T&G Harcourts Building in Lambton Quay.

He 'has worked hard for decades to build a very successful business empire while being a long standing contributor to education, sport and health initiatives in Wellington,' judge convenor John Dow said.

'His generosity to Wellington was encapsulated earlier this year in the announcement that he would build and fund a new $50 million children's hospital for the capital.'

Dow said all the winners displayed a strong sense of commitment to the Wellington community.

2017 Wellingtonian of the year awards #TheWellys #business winner - developer, Mark Dunajtschik “Wellington has been good to me and I want to be good to Wellington.” pic.twitter.com/KpSL0nHcgm

— Collette Devlin (@devlincolle) December 6, 2017

CATEGORY WINNERS

Business: Mark Dunajtschik

Arts: Hone Kouka, artistic director of the Kia Mau Festival of Māori, Pasifika, International Indigenous Dance and Theatre. He is also a celebrated playwright and actor, short fiction writer, poet and children's author.

Community service: Mike O'Sullivan, property investor and a long-time volunteer at Mary Potter Hospice. He provided several million dollars in seed funding for the Mary Potter Hospice apartments ot help the hospice continue their work.

Education: Alison Eldredge, founder of Arohanui Strings an organisation that gives free instruments and music lessons to children in the poorer suburbs of the Hutt Valley.

Environment: Rob Wilson and Serena Cox, founders of Ghostfishing NZ, a group of divers who pull truckloads of rubbish out of Wellington Harbour and beyond.

Government: Annette King, who represented the eastern and southern suburbs of Wellington for 21 years as an MP before retiring earlier this year. Most recently she was a mentor to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Science and Technology: Linc Gasking, startup entrepreneur and co-founder of virtual reality software company 8i, which develops software for virtual reality headsets.

Sports: Josh Junior, Olympic sailor, who represented New Zealand at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and was part of the victorious America's Cup crew in Bermuda.

Youth: Tabby Besley, founder of InsideOUT, an organisation 'for youth, by youth' that works to make Aotearoa a safer place for young people of minority genders and sexualities.

World-Class Welly: Tim Brown, former All White and foundation player of the Wellington Phoenix has gone on to launch the successful Allbirds footwear brand in the US.

A new initiative was introduced in 2017 at the awards- the Philanthropy showcase. It was created to acknowledge people who have made an outstanding financial or some other contribution to the Wellington community.

Philanthropy Showcase Recipients: Margaret Doucas, Barbara Blake, Ben Kieboom.

Doucas was a life time supporter of the SPCA and animal lover and she left a significant legacy to the SPCA ensuring their new Wellington building is now debt free.

Blake made a major donation to the Adam Art Gallery to establish a part-time paid internship for young arts graduates. She also provided a donation to the Nikau Foundation for an endowment fund.

Kieboom is a head student at Kāpiti College, he helped raise money for the Kāpiti Performing Arts Centre, which secured funds earlier this year.