Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Kai Manaaki becomes Kai With Love (KWL)

By Dave Murdoch
Reporter·Bush Telegraph·
26 Mar, 2024 10:10 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

KWL chief cook Haley Butcher checks the meatballs cooking for delivery to those in need.

KWL chief cook Haley Butcher checks the meatballs cooking for delivery to those in need.

When Cyclone Gabrielle struck Hawke’s Bay and Tararua devastating major parts of Hastings and Napier, Kai Manaaki (Dannevirke) was born.

Haley Butcher and friends with connections at a Napier marae perceived the urgent need for food and support, and offered to help with food cooked at Makirikiri Marae.

Supported by goodwill from farmers, businesses and a core group of 10 Tararua residents, a vehicle carrying food was travelling once a week to be distributed by the marae.

During the next 43 weeks, 200 meals a week were cooked in Dannevirke and delivered once a week until the need waned.

This year Haley and friends were inspired to do it all again — not to feed those in Hawke’s Bay, but to feed residents doing it hard in the present economic climate, particularly the elderly who had lost their Meals on Wheels service.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Kai With Love (KWL) team members taking morning tea break at the Dannevirke Holiday Park are Myra Kapuvai (left), Nanette Butcher, Renee Berryman, and Haley Butcher.
Kai With Love (KWL) team members taking morning tea break at the Dannevirke Holiday Park are Myra Kapuvai (left), Nanette Butcher, Renee Berryman, and Haley Butcher.

After investigation on social media as to the need, Haley gained permission from the Tararua District Council to use the holiday park kitchen, and a trial run found more than 20 recipients happy to pay $10 a meal, as no funding was initially available.

Haley says not only do the recipients appreciate the food, but they all like to have a chat — social contact being almost as important. The delivery of the meals took Haley three hours the day before this interview.

For a core group of original Kai Manaaki volunteers it has been a great revival too, saying they appreciate coming back to renew close friendships and spread their love. One said, “You can taste our love in our food.”

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

For this reason the new service has been called Kai With Love (KWL).

Holiday park manager Karl Thompson says it is great to see the kitchen back in use and hopes the service will continue.

If anyone would like to trial the service, which is running five days a week, contact Haley Butcher on 027 469 7573.


Dave Murdoch is a part-time photo-journalist based in Dannevirke. For the past 10 years he has covered any community story telling good news about the district.




Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

12 Jul 12:43 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Green light for fires on Napier beaches after council quietly revokes bylaw

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Hawkes Bay Today

St John defends decision not to send ambulance to toddler who broke jaw in fall

11 Jul 06:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

12 Jul 12:43 AM

The North Island is expected to get off to a wet start this morning, with lingering rain.

Green light for fires on Napier beaches after council quietly revokes bylaw

Green light for fires on Napier beaches after council quietly revokes bylaw

11 Jul 06:00 PM
St John defends decision not to send ambulance to toddler who broke jaw in fall

St John defends decision not to send ambulance to toddler who broke jaw in fall

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
John Jenkins: Empire State another jumper on the rise

John Jenkins: Empire State another jumper on the rise

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP