Koha Kai project leader Janice Lee serves up beef nachos with Chris Montgomery, of the Queens Park Football club.

Koha Kai has won the supreme award at the 2016 Trustpower Invercargill Southland Community Awards.

The Awards were announced and presented on Tuesday at the Invercargill Civic Theatre.

Trustpower Community Relations Representative Emily Beaton said Koha Kai had a fantastic model that was genuinely changing the lives of people within the community.

ROBYN EDIE/FAIRFAXNZ The Koha Kai team busy making food at Newfield park school kitchen from left, Teresa Hammond, Rose Zyskowski, Faye Minchington, Margaret Lewis, Janice Lee, and Newfield Park School pupil Caylee Duncan-Rose, 9.

"Koha Kai is a transition organisation taking people from a situation of isolation and separation through to positive acceptance, integration and independence into the community," she said.

Koha Kai currently serves more than 500 hot lunches per week at three Invercargill Primary Schools

The focus for the school lunch programme is basic, good quality home cooking, which also teaches trainees skills that are transferable into their own lives.

The lunches are prepared and cooked by the trainees, with ingredients sourced from the community gardens which are also run by trainees.

Koha Kai works in eight community and private gardens, producing vegetables for the kitchen.

Two of the gardens are school gardens, and another five of the gardens they maintain are in the homes of elderly or disabled people, with the main focus being to stop the isolation many of those people experience.

The programmes are helping disabled trainees to develop a broad range of skills in hospitality, food preparation and horticulture, as well as team work, communication, social interaction, workplace health and safety, personal grooming and hygiene, Beaton said.

It has helped them learn about responsibility, pride and self worth and given them a sense of purpose, she said.

"The end goal is that trainees will be able to move into full time employment, which can be life changing for this group of people who want nothing more than to be able to save their own money to go on holiday, and have a bit of financial freedom that is thanks to their hard work."

For winning the Supreme Award, Koha Kai received a framed certificate, a trophy and $1,500 prize money.

The organisation now has the opportunity to represent the district at the 2016 Trustpower National Community Awards, which are being held in the Rotorua District in March 2017.

With more than 69 groups entered, Trustpower awarded more than $5,000 to community groups.

Other winners were:

Heritage and Environment

Winner: Stewart Island/Rakiura Community Environment Trust

Runner-Up: Fiordland Wapiti Foundation

Health and Well Being

Winner: Riverton op Shop

Runner-up: St John-Invercargill Health Shuttle

Arts and Culture

Winner: Riverton Community Arts Centre

Runner-up: Te Anau Tartan Festival

Sport and Leisure

Winner: Tokonui Courts Committee

Runner-up: South Catlins Promotions Inc.

Commendation: Special Olympics Southland

Commendation: Tackle the Takitimu's

Education and Child/Youth Development

Winner: Limehills School Student Army Volunteers

Runner-up: NRG Invercargill

Commendation: Family Works

Youth Spirit

Winner: Sophia Humphries

Finalist: Kawinwit Kittipalawattanapol

Finalist: Fiona Pahl

Finalist: Rachel Pocklington