A retired banker built farms for 2,000 children in Zimbabwe — and just became Victoria's Senior of the Year

Mark Edmonds had a full corporate banking career behind him when he started again. Volunteering in Zimbabwe, he raised funds himself to build a vegetable farm and irrigation system at the Mathew Rusike Children's Home — and the farm now grows enough to feed all 150 resident children and sell the surplus. He has since repeated the model at three more sites, in Gokwe, Waddilove and Lirhanzo, giving more than 2,000 children food and a hands-on agricultural education. This week the Victorian Government named him its Senior of the Year, alongside 15 other older Victorians honoured for quiet, compounding good. Minister Nick Staikos called this year's recipients proof of 'the extraordinary impact older Victorians have in our communities.'

SDG 2 · Zero hunger — Mechanism: individual leader