12 tonnes of food each day donated to people in need. Made with funding from NZ On Air.
More than 600 bags of food have been put together by the Tauranga Sikh Society to give to those in need today.
From 2pm, any person who was in need of food could head along to the temple in Pyes Pa to collect a free food parcel full of about 13 items.
The initiative was one that had been rolled out to Sikh temples across the country, in turn helping thousands of people in need.
Manager of supplies for the Supreme Sikh Society Daljit Singh said it all came down to a key value of the religion being the need to "share with others".
People in the Sikh religion across the country had donated between $500 and $1000 each to fund the parcels, while other Sikh growers were donating hundreds of kgs worth of fresh fruits and vegetables.
One Sikh grower from Te Puke had donated thousands of fresh kiwifruit to the cause.
Singh said the event was all about unity and that "any person from any religion or ethnicity could come" and there would be "no questions asked".
A food parcel gets loaded without contact into a car of a person in need. Photo / George Novak
"Now is the time for humanity... we are all together in this."
The Tauranga temple had created 600 parcels with about 13 items in each.
Singh said he hoped that the parcels would feed a family for about three to four days.
If the demand was high, he said they would likely do it again.
People work to separate the fresh vegetables for the parcels. Photo / George Novak
Not only that, but the supreme society had been working with NZ Police to track down the places that needed the food the most.
He said they were even looking at doing deliveries to some families in Tauranga.
Singh temples across the country were each opening their doors for collections every day and Tauranga's collection just happened to fall on Anzac Day, he said.
