PENRITH community champion Lana Borg is in the running to be named Australia’s Kindest Person 2026 after being selected as one of just 15 finalists from more than 5,000 nominations across Australia.
The founder of Mama Lana’s Community Foundation is one of only three finalists in the Kindness in the Community category, recognised for more than a decade of providing food and practical support to people experiencing hardship.
Lana’s journey began in 2013 when she and her husband Roger cooked for firefighters battling the Blue Mountains bushfires, delivering around 350 meals a day for 12 days, as well as breakfasts and dinners for volunteers.
Just weeks later, they were asked to prepare a Christmas Day dinner from a Penrith car park for people experiencing homelessness and hardship.
After seeing the need in their own community, Lana and Roger began delivering meals four nights a week. As demand grew, so did Mama Lana’s Community Foundation.
Today, the volunteer-run organisation provides around 300 free hot meals a day, six nights a week – approximately 93,000 meals every year.
The foundation’s support extends beyond meals, with food and toiletry packs, clothing, blankets, sleeping bags and other essentials provided to people in need. The team also responds to crisis calls and helps connect people with other services.
Around 70 volunteers support the organisation, which receives no ongoing government funding and relies on private donations and one-off grants.
For Lana, caring for others has been a lifelong instinct. Her earliest memory of cooking was standing on a chair to stir porridge on a timber-fuelled stove for her three siblings, preparing breakfast and school lunches.
Her own life has included significant challenges, but cooking became a constant and ultimately a way of helping others facing difficult circumstances.
Lana’s contribution has been recognised many times, including the 2015 Community Hero Award at the NSW Women of the Year Awards, being named Penrith’s No.1 Local Hero in 2018 and, most recently, the 2025 Westfield Penrith Local Hero.
“It’s incredible, I don’t know what to say… what we do here is incredible and I’m truly blessed that I’ve got so many people to help me get those 300 meals out every single day,” Lana said.
HumanKind Founder Angela Williams said Lana’s story demonstrated how one act of kindness could transform an entire community.
“Penrith already knows what Lana means to this community. Now the rest of Australia gets the chance to discover her too,” she said.
The winner will be announced at the Australia’s Kindest Person Awards at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast on Friday, November 13, World Kindness Day.
The winner will receive $25,000 personally, with a further $25,000 donated to a registered Australian charity of their choice.
