Pam Locke at the Raumanga Community Gardens, where she dedicates her time to feeding her community. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Pam Locke at the Raumanga Community Gardens, where she dedicates her time to feeding her community. Photo / Michael Cunningham
A Raumanga charity is growing food for the community and then teaching locals how to cook with it in a new pay-it-forward initiative.
The 'Meals by the community for the community' pilot free cooking class ran on May 27 and attracted budding students of all ages and skillsets.
Director of It's Up To You charitable trust Pam Locke works in tandem with Raumanga Community Garden and Raumanga Medical Centre to make a positive difference in her community.
"It's all about lifestyle medicine and empowering people to make healthy lifestyle choices," said Locke.
Her holistic approach is the working wheel behind the cyclical movement of giving at the charity.
"Everything we do is all about contribution. It's not just about taking something, it's about how people can learn and how they can contribute.
"That in itself becomes quite empowering."
NorthTec chef and tutor Sean Lynch led the cooking class which focused on how to get the most flavour out of a few ingredients to create a delicious meal on a budget.
"These guys cooking today, they learn a bit and they get to take a few meals home for the freezer. We get to fill the community freezer, then we can give it out to people."
The group raised enough money to buy a community freezer, which is at Raumanga Medical Centre.
"This is not a takeaway - the community's made it for you and you can contribute."
Locke hopes the cooking lessons won't be a one-off and wants them to become something the charity does quarterly.
Locke advertises the events, such as the cooking classes, on Facebook and as well as at the medical centre.
"One of the people came to the medical centre and thought, oh, 'I'd quite like to learn how to cook, - he's never cooked in his life and he has brought his friend along."
The Raumanga Community Gardens provides the community with fresh fruit and vegetables. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Some of the fresh food utilised in the classes is from the Raumanga Community Garden, which sprawls across four acres of education land down from Manaia View school.
Every Saturday, from 9am to 10am, the Raumanga Community Garden is opened to be tended to by the locals at 35 Tauroa Street.
Locke is also organising a Matariki celebration in the form of a kumara harvest at the Raumanga Community Garden on June 4.
"We planted 4000 kumara as a community project last year and we had around 50 people involved in this planting day."
