Your 2025 Westfield Coomera Local Hero is:

Kahui Dickins

GC Storehouse

Selfless. Resilient. Dedicated

Kahui’s co-operative, GC Storehouse, started out as Kahui serving food from her garage during Covid-19, and is now a fully stocked store dedicated to supporting 2,800 individuals weekly in her Gold Coast community.  That original act of kindness from 2020 has grown into an organisation that offers low-cost food and household items to people experiencing hardship, unemployment, homelessness, or trauma.

By making these goods more affordable and accessible, Kahui helps alleviate financial stress and offers peace of mind to families by ensuring that they can provide for their children without sacrificing essentials.  

Through this work, Kahui also promotes environmental sustainability, because people donate food and goods to the store that they might otherwise have thrown away.  She was, and is still, motivated to keep helping others by the loss of her son.  

“Overcoming the immense grief was a profound challenge. Navigating emotional distress felt overwhelming, yet I found purpose in serving others through GC Storehouse,” she says.  “Hearing the stories of others in our community who face their own struggles fuels my passion for this work,” she adds.  That passion has led to partnerships with Food Bank and OzHarvest, who recognised Kahui’s efforts and helped her to expand. As a result, GC Storehouse is now a household name in the local area.  

The $20,000 grant will be used to fund much-needed freezers, countertop shopping tills, more low-cost products. 

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We’d like to thank and acknowledge our finalists who will receive a $5K grant for the organisation they represent...

Darren Caulfield from Lilly Pilly - Supervised Children’s Contact Centre

Darren founded Lilly Pilly to create a safe, neutral space where children can maintain relationships with non-residential parents. Guided by his own life experiences, he supports families through conflict, offering practical advice and emotional support while helping them stay out of court and focused on the best interests of the child.

Melissa Siwicki from The Quiet Courage Foundation

Through her work with the Quiet Courage Foundation, Melissa supports cancer patients across the Gold Coast and Tweed Valley by providing care packs, emotional support, and community connection. Her own experience of cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy and radiotherapy drives her passion to help others going through similar challenges.

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If you need support, please phone Lifeline: 13 11 14

Recognising all our 2025 nominees

View all of the Westfield Coomera nominees and their organisations.