“Where does the average family find $500 a week more just to keep a roof over their heads?”
He says Pāpāmoa is seen by many as an affluent suburb, but behind closed doors that isn’t necessarily the case.
Various strategies are being employed to help people help themselves, and not repetitively rely on food support.
“What we do is provide a food parcel for a family of four for three days – breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.
“In that pack, we provide pantry items, all the fresh items they need and we also produce menu cards with a main meal menu and instructions of how to cook that meal with the ingredients we supply, which is a very different model to most food hubs.”
The system has been compared by some to Hello Fresh.
“It’s similar but with a lot more simplistic recipes. There are half a dozen ingredients and it’s a good nutritious family meal.”
The food hub also delivers the packs.
“That is a good thing because that way we can engage with our clients.”
A plan for the near future is to start running cooking classes – another way, Bruce hopes, of reducing dependence.
“We are just working on a model that would have a five or six-week course.
“They will cook a meal with our cooks and at the end of it they’ll take home all the ingredients and replicate that meal with their family.”
He hopes it will also give people the chance to pass on what they have learned to other family members.
“It might only be a chilli or meatballs, but it’s very rewarding if children can learn to cook with a parent.”
He is aware some people go from one agency to another.
“We don’t want to enable that. We want to put a system in place where we can identify that and get people to engage and get support from other agencies to keep them out of needing food support.”
One of the reasons food packages are designed to last for three days is in recognition of “payday poverty”.
“That’s where there’s a 14-day cycle: it’s the last three days leading up to payday [when families are struggling for food].
“We want to help people who are trying and want to help themselves. You can’t be dependent on support every day of your life.”
Initially Here to Help U is handling applications, but the food hub will soon be receiving applications directly.
“That’s simply because when you go through a third party, that puts another barrier in the way,” he says.
“It’s quite a big hurdle for people to actually step up and say, ‘You may not notice this, but we are struggling’.”
A low-key opening was held recently that was also a chance to get supporters together.
“At the moment we’re only delivering one day a week but we’re moving to a two-day-a-week model and that comes down to capacity with volunteers ...
“We’ve got a good pool of volunteers and keen key people who up to now have been happy to do everything. But we are at a point now where we can’t put that strain on volunteers.”
Anyone who wants to help with donations or to volunteer can contact the food hub through its Facebook page.
Neighbourhood Support Western Bay is acting as an umbrella support until the food hub gets its own charitable status.
“The project has been very very exciting to get it off the ground but it has been hard work, so all credit to the committee,” Bruce says.
