Salvation Army Whangārei food bank volunteer Verrell Bryson making sure the new social supermarket is ready in time.
Photo / Michael Cunningham
Salvation Army Whangārei food bank volunteer Verrell Bryson making sure the new social supermarket is ready in time.
Photo / Michael Cunningham
Another social supermarket and alternative ways of securing food supplies are among initiatives by social agencies in Northland to ensure a consistent supply of kai to needy families.
Salvation Army in Whangārei will open its first Choice Supermarket on January 11 at its Aubrey St premises to supplement its food bank and Te Kai Maikona (food provision strategy) as demand for food rises heading into the festive season.
It will be Northland’s third supermarket without price tags after the 155 Whare Kai on Woods Rd in Whangārei opened in September and Kaitaia has the Te Hiku Pataka.
“We are looking at all sorts of ways to help families to support themselves rather than relying on the food banks - that’s not sustainable,” Salvation Army Whangārei community ministries’ manager Trevor McLean said.
For the first time in more than a decade, Salvation Army Whangārei will not have a public Christmas lunch so staff and volunteers, who have worked long hours during the Covid pandemic, can have time off.
However, they will give out 300 Christmas hampers and the delivery of food parcels will continue.
“Demand for food has picked up in the last three months and we are seeing more working families who are struggling with the cost of living, spending $150 to $200 on just half a trolley load of goods in a supermarket.”
McLean said they were helping between 60 and 80 families a week at present.
“We’d be struggling if hadn’t been for the pre-packed food coming in from our mission support centre’s food warehouse in Auckland. They now form the basis of what we give out. We get 90 food parcels most of the week from Auckland and that gets delivered right up to Kaitāia,” he said.
Salvation Army Food Bank staff and volunteers busy preparing for the busy festival season.
Photo / Michael Cunningham
The 155 Whare Awhina has begun its Christmas appeal to meet the increased demand.
“We’re helping more Northlanders than ever and Christmas is our busiest time of year. Demand for our services will rise over coming weeks with more pressure on already-stretched whānau to feed with tamariki who are home from school, and navigate the many costs of the festive season,” chief executive Liz Cassidy-Nelson said.
An open-day barbecue will be held this Friday at 155 Whare Kai to raise donations and to invite the community to learn about its services.
Cassidy-Nelson said 155 was meeting the need for kai while ensuring those who requested food were connected to other relevant services, be it housing, whanau support, legal information and education, or shelter, kai and washing facilities at 155 Open Arms.
Cassidy-Nelson said 130 people were coming through the social supermarket on Woods Rd — the highest of any region where there is a social supermarket.
A further 90 whanau needed of kai, she said.
As well as donations to buy kai, 155 is also requesting egg cartons and reusable bags for the food bank, and towels for its 155 Open Arms Day Centre.
