Tauranga personal trainer Louise Watson has collected more than 1000 items for the foodbank so far. Photo / Mead Norton
Tauranga personal trainer Louise Watson has collected more than 1000 items for the foodbank so far. Photo / Mead Norton
“Putting in the work and taking it back to what matters most.”
That's the motto driving personal trainer Louise Watson whose trying to collect thousands of donations for the Tauranga Community Foodbank before Christmas.
The 32-year-old Tauranga woman, known as Boss Lady online, has so far collected 1500 food items. She put the call out for donations at the start of October. Her goal is to donate more than 5000.
Watson works at Blaze Fitness on Cameron Rd and has also recently opened her own gym in Tauriko.
Watson started the foodbank initiative about four years ago after being inspired to "pay it forward" by a friend who was then also a colleague at another Tauranga gym.
Tauranga personal trainer Louise Watson has collected more than 1000 items for the foodbank so far. Photo / Mead Norton
After encouraging other staff, gym members, and friends to get behind the cause they soon became "overridden" with donations.
"I came day after day and it just kept growing - there was so much food. And I just thought what if I did this every year?" Watson said.
Last year, about 1000 items were donated to the Tauranga Community Foodbank but this time round she had made the call to go "above and beyond" setting a goal of 5000 items.
As part of this, Watson started her campaign earlier than usual to give herself more time to reach the goal, she said.
Asked what kept her motivated to collect donations annually, Watson said she always felt like "one-upping" what she had achieved in years before.
"I feel like I can't leave the impact where we have left it. It's kind of like one-upping it. I can't stop now."
There was also healthy competition among her clients who would donate more after seeing what others had given, she said.
"It kind of encourages them to do more in a positive way. It makes them want to contribute."
She said she often set "really crazy expectations" for her business and decided to apply this philosophy to her foodbank mission this year.
It was also crucial she used her social media following - about 19,000 on Facebook - to bring about change, she said.
"It's about being a boss of your goals and getting s*** done. It's just putting in the work and taking it back to what matters most," she said.
"And you just slowly work towards it even if people think it's nuts or crazy - you just do it," she said.
She said seeing personal training clients being made redundant along with rising living costs had highlighted the importance of this year's collection.
"This year specifically people are struggling a lot more than normal so it's our way to give back."
Baby food, baking ingredients and sanitary products were just a few of the items Watson needed, saying there was already “a lot of baked beans and canned fruit”.
Watson will be collecting donations until December 12 before handing goods over to the foodbank.
