Demand for food parcels has soared in Tauranga, and Bay social agencies are bracing themselves for another influx in requests in the coming few months.
Tauranga Community Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin said: "We've been a lot busier than the same time last year, with 543 food parcels handed out in the past four weeks."
Goodwin said the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown had seen the foodbank hand out 223 more food parcels than the same four-week period last year, a 70 per cent increase.
She said this included 299 parcels in the past three weeks, of which 95 or almost one third were for people who had never sought help from the Foodbank before.
"There has been a real mix of people coming to us. We've had quite a few people who either lost their jobs or are on reduced hours, as well as a number of self-employed people, some who have been forced to shut their business."
Goodwin said there also had been an increase in the elderly with no family support and far more referrals from schools and the civil defence emergency management group.
She said the foodbank also had requests in the last few days from 15 travellers, mainly from Brazil and Argentina, whose working holiday jobs had dried up.
"We're happy to help but my main concern is what happens to these people when they can no longer pay for their accommodation."
She said in the 12 months to April 23, 6498 food parcels were handed out.
Goodwin said while not able to accept food donations from individuals at the moment due to Covid-19 restrictions, the local community's support had been "astounding".
"We are continuing to order some bulk food from our very generous local suppliers and we're also being well supported by our local business community."
Goodwin said this included businesses such as Lucky Rooster, which distributes Anchor products, which had been giving the Foodbank "crates and crates" of fresh milk for free.
Braemar Poultry Farm in Te Puna has been donating 60 to 80 trays of eggs a week to ensure the foodbank had "all the eggs it needed" while Bakels Edible Oils had been supplying margarine and other spreads also free of charge.
"One of the positives to come out of lockdown is that we have built new relationships with new distributors whose generosity has been quite overwhelming," she said.
Goodwin said another generous benefactor was Mike Farmer from Farmer Autovillage who had lent the foodbank another van to enable food parcel deliveries to be made.
Good Neighbours Food Rescue and Red Cross were assisting with deliveries too, she said.
Goodwin said the foodbank was bracing itself for when the full impact of the lockdown was felt, which she believed was going to be in the next six months.
"Even for businesses hoping to get up and running again we know there will be casualties and these business owners and their staff will need a lot of support," she said.
"We'll continue to be here for the long haul and we're happy to help anyone who needs it, and we only wish we could do more."
Rotorua Multicultural Council has also been a welcome lifeline for a number of migrants and international students in the district.
Multicultural Council president Dr Margriet Theron said the council's ethnically appropriate food parcels project was kicked off with a $5000 grant from the Ministry of Social Development's Covid-19 response fund.
Theron said the council had the benefit of donations, including a $1000 from Rotorua Rotary Club, a $1000 private donation from a migrant, and $2500 from Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology which was sufficient to make up 50 food parcels.
She said the council had also redirected its $5000 Multicultural events funding from the Rotorua Trust towards the food parcel project.
Theron said the council had in the past four weeks handed out 240 food parcels, 64 per cent to international students studying at Toi Ohomai and the rest to "skilled migrants".
She said many of the students had been working in the likes of the hospitality and lost their jobs, and some of the skilled migrants also lost jobs or had money struggles too.
"We are delivering 20 to 30 parcels every few days with the help of our great team of eight volunteer drivers working in shifts and thanks to our generous donors.
"This includes a heartwarming call I had from an 84-year-old woman who told me that she could not help physically but she wanted to put some money into our bank account."
Theron said the demand for food parcels was only going grow.
"This is not going to go away in a hurry and I suspect there are many more out there with similar needs and extra support will be needed for some months to come until people are able to get back on their feet."
Rotorua Salvation Army Lieutenant Kylie Overbye said they had been "very blessed" by the number of generous donations from the community and their corporate partners.
"We've received significant monetary donations from individuals, offers of support from Government agencies, and we also continue to get regular food support from Countdown Food Rescue, The Foodbank Project, Civil Defence and Pak'nSave," she said.
Overbye said thanks to this generosity they had given out at least 209 food parcels since the lockdown began on March 25.
She said this year at least 460 food parcels had been handed out with an estimated value of $46,000.
Overbye said the need for food parcels was growing as the effects of the revenue loss, especially on families, was becoming more apparent.
"People have tried really hard to make do on what income they're getting. But as time has gone on they still need to meet their outstanding bills and re-acclimatise to a new, perhaps lower budget, to work to.
"They are not alone in that. We want people to ask for help if they need it," she said.
Overbye said there was a great network of other community groups in Rotorua such as Love Soup which also provided food support around the community.
"We encourage anyone who is able to do so to make a cash donation online."
•
Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website
