Whānau seek GiveALittle donations for Love Soup founder mum dying of cancer

Lifelong volunteer Lisa Richards of Whangārei sits with her whānau Karter Bennett, Sarah Bennett, Ruth Laetitagaloa, Ziggy Vaevae, Zion Vaevae and Esther Loa. Photo / Michael Cunningham

A Northland whānau is seeking GiveALittle donations for their terminally ill mother, who has dedicated her life to helping those in need.

Mother and well-known founder of Love Soup Whangārei, Lisa Richards, has been diagnosed with terminal metastatic gastrointestinal pancreatic cancer at the age of 53.

Richards is a familiar face across the Hikurangi and Whangārei communities and spent a lot of her time giving to others and ensuring people in her local community had food, clothes and company.

Her projects include Love Soup, breakfasts and lunches in Northland schools, Pātaka Kai around town and hampers for families in need.

Richards has no regrets when it comes to having dedicated much of her life to putting food on other people’s tables.

“I miss my work, yeah, it’s hard to stop.

“For me helping people was more than just serving a meal... if you can come out of a dark place, anyone can do it,” Richards said.

Making the sacrifices to achieve what she did wasn’t easy, but Richards said it was worth it.

“When it came to Love Soup, the majority of it came out of my own pocket because I chose to. I didn’t have to.”

Richards said she went through a lot of “abuse for giving a damn”, because not everyone shares the same passion for helping others.

“Life’s too short, that’s my advice now.

“It’s not unexpected, but I really didn’t think I was gonna be where I am now - it’s a bit of a wake-up.”

Lisa Richards founded the Hikurangi Community Pantry in 2018. The facility operates under the guideline of "Give what you can, take what you need". Photo / Tania Whyte

For people who are looking at getting into volunteering, she said they should give it a go, but they’ve got to be ready to sacrifice their time.

“I’m happy with what I’ve done in life, in general, to help others.

“It’s unity. We need to help each other out.”

Daughters Sarah Bennett, Esther Loa and Ruth Laetitagaloa said their mother was always involved in the community when they were growing up, but she increased her volunteering when they moved out of the house.

“A lot of her week consisted of helping,” Bennett said.

Richards’ empathy and the pride that she takes in her community work over the years has made her family even prouder of her, Loa said.

“It’s been amazing because we’ve seen quite a few articles in the newspaper recognising her [work] and online, so [she] makes us really proud.”

The family have created a GiveALittle page for donations to cover funeral costs and compensate for the expense of coming over from Australia, where many of the whānau live.

“Where Mum was so open to giving support to the community - if they would also be willing to even just share [the GiveALittle post] or give a koha,” Bennett said.

The sisters thanked everyone who has already donated, shared the page or offered their support to the family.

You can donate to Lisa Richard’s whānau at: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/farewell-lisa.

Richards has no regrets when it comes to having dedicated much of her life to putting food on other people’s tables. Photo / Michael Cunningham