Free store founder makes a difference

Rebecca Culver founded her free store after giving away excess bread to the needy.

Community Spirit category: The co-ordinator of Palmerston North's free food store says she wouldn't have been able to make the difference she's made to hundreds of lives without her dedicated volunteers.

Rebecca Culver has run Just Zilch for three years and has been nominated in the community spirit category for this year's Pride of New Zealand Awards.

The humble nominee says she often can't believe how far the store has come and how large the demand for free food is.

"In the beginning we averaged around 80 people each night and that's grown to 120. This is my fulltime job and along with my volunteers, we're here most days collecting and sorting donations ready for distribution."

Before opening Just Zilch, Rebecca volunteered for community meals. At the end of each night, the leftover bread would be given to the pigs.

She asked if she could take some of the leftover bread.

"I started driving around town knocking on people's door asking if they wanted free bread."

Rebecca says she believes her faith in Christ often led her to where she needed to be.

Then she heard of the free store concept "which seemed similar to what I was already doing except people would come to me".

Just Zilch opened on June 14, 2011. "We had 10 suppliers then and now we have 29 and that's just the regular ones; we also have sporadic donations who bring pellet loads of stuff."

Rebecca's nominator said the free store had saved her from going hungry on several occasions.

"I know I would be unable to support myself as there are weeks when I wouldn't eat if it weren't for Just Zilch. I wanted to nominate Rebecca for this award because I'm truly grateful ... she's an unsung hero to those in need in this city."