In a year full of challenges, two people quietly but powerfully showed what it meant to give back to their communities.
For this year’s Star Mail Ranges Trader and Ferntree Gully papers, the Gully Market president, Ian Rice, and Little Hendrix Cafe owner and chef, Alex Palmer, have been named People of the Year for 2025 – both incredibly generous and went out of their way to ensure their communities were supported, cared for, and included.
Mr Rice and his team at the Gully Market donated a total of $8000 to local organisations helping the most vulnerable members of the community.
The Gully Market donated $3000 to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia’s Specialist Prostate Cancer Care Nurses program to address the shortage of nurses available to support men and their families through diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.
Mr Rice and his team had recognised that while breast cancer services received significant funding, prostate cancer services were far more limited, and they wanted to make a difference where it counted.
He said raising awareness was as important as providing funding and that sometimes the biggest impact came from letting people know that help existed.
The Gully Market also donated $5000 to local organisations, including Foothills Community Care and the Ferntree Gully Salvation Army, to help fund Christmas lunches, hampers, gifts, and food relief for families who might otherwise have missed out.
Mr Rice emphasised that the market was not a huge organisation, but every extra dollar after covering costs went straight to those in need.
He spoke with genuine humility about the impact the market had, whether it was providing money for essential services or sparking other acts of generosity in the community.
He also encouraged men over 50 to get tested for prostate cancer, highlighting the importance of early diagnosis and the life-saving difference awareness can make.
Meanwhile, in Belgrave, Alex Palmer turned his love of food into a way of bringing people together while raising funds for important local causes.
Through Little Hendrix Cafe, he ran a series of donation-based pizza nights that raised thousands of dollars for the Lantern Festival, the Belgrave Traders Association, and the CFA.
He made sure these events were inclusive: everyone was welcome, even if they could not afford to donate, and he involved other local businesses in the process, from supplying ingredients to helping run the events.
Mr Palmer’s fundraisers had a real, tangible impact.
His pizza nights helped cover the costs of staging, AV, performers, and other essentials for the Belgrave Lantern Festival, ensuring that it could continue despite funding shortfalls.
Families enjoyed the food, kids watched pizzas being made, and the broader community came together, sharing a meal and celebrating local culture.
Over the year, his pizza nights raised nearly $5000 for the festival alone.
Beyond the festival, his cafe also supported people in need through initiatives like the Pay It Forward board, making sure everyone could enjoy a meal regardless of their circumstances.
He always offered whatever he could, even as simple as having extra lemons at home, he’d put a note on his shop or on a Facebook page to let community members know if anyone needed them.
Both Mr Rice and Mr Palmer showed that supporting a community was not just about writing cheques; it was about showing up, listening, organising, and quietly creating opportunities for people to connect and be cared for.
Their efforts went beyond money; they created moments of joy, awareness, and inclusion.
Through their work, they demonstrated that even small organisations and local businesses could make a massive difference when guided by generosity, consistency, and care.
