The community has acknowledged the work of four particularly special women recently by nominating them for the Lifeline Steel Magnolia Award.

The annual award, established in 2004, recognises women who have faced great adversity and made significant contributions to their community.

Gyan Gater, Carmel Kaczmar, Debbie Massie and Nikki Verrils are the Maitland area nominees for the award, and have each made a valuable contribution to the Hunter community.

Ms Gater is the chair of Maitland Relay for Life committee who, at 25, chose to eliminate the risk of breast cancer – after learning of her family’s history with the illness – by having a double mastectomy.

Ms Kaczmar set up not-for-profit organisation Assistance Dogs NSW in 2011, despite having personal battles of her own.

She is a survivor of abuse and lives with Bipolar Disorder.

Ms Massie, the medical services manager at Awabakal, has developed a new model of care for patients with chronic disease called Kit Smart.

She has performed this feat for the community while suffering through the pain of rheumatoid arthritis – she also cares for her terminally ill husband.

Ms Verrils is a cancer biologist at the University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute.

She has recently identified a new class of drugs that shows great promise for cancer treatment.

She has won numerous awards including a National Health and Medical Research Council Fellowship and HMRI Award for Early Career Researchers resulting in her own laboratory investigating the molecular causes of cancer and novel treatment therapies.

Clearly, the Steel Magnolia Award judges will be spoiled for choice when it comes to the nominees from the Maitland area.

The finalists will be announced at Newcastle City Hall later this month.

The Mercury wishes to congratulate Ms Gater, Ms Kaczmar, Ms Massie and Ms Verrils for their nominations – no matter how far into the awards process they go, they certainly deserve the admiration and acknowledgement of the Maitland community.