It was a gruelling personal challenge inspired by the work of a friend and a drive to send a strong message against domestic violence, and now a 96-kilometre trek through the jungle in Papua New Guinea has earned one Port Adelaide staffer an Australia Day award.

Ross Wait, who heads up the club’s community arm, Power Community Limited, trekked the Kokoda Track in September with four friends, Kaizaad Mehta, Jim Farnan and Dean Pead.

The group spent weeks preparing for the gruelling eight-day hike, which aimed to raise $50,000 for the Zahra Foundation, a domestic violence service.

The Foundation was started by Wait’s friend Arman Abrahimzadeh, an Adelaide City Councillor, whose mother Zahra was killed by his estranged father.

In the end, the group raised $65,000, which will enable 130 women to access grants to study and gain employment through the Foundation’s Opportunity Knox program.

Wait’s efforts were recognised on Australia Day when he was given a Community Service Award by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield.

The council’s reasoning for the award was that “Ross is an outstanding role model and inspires others to be better citizens.”

Wait was also a finalist in the 2019 Citizen of the Year award.

Through his work at the Port Adelaide Football Club, Ross has worked tirelessly to educate people about domestic violence and respectful relationships and the club is incredibly proud of his achievements.