Elmer Peiffer, the co-director of charity Rotorua Whakaora, Photo / File
Elmer Peiffer, the co-director of charity Rotorua Whakaora, Photo / File
Increasing numbers of Rotorua residents are having to rely on emergency food parcels and grants to feed their families, local charities say.
Foodbanks and other support groups and the Ministry of Social Development are reporting a huge surge in demand for food staples compared to pre-Covid levels.
They are bracing themselves for the second wave of demand in the coming weeks as the wage subsidy scheme comes to an end and further impacts of Covid-19 hit communities.
Tiny Deane, chief executive of Rotorua-based Visions of a Helping Hand Trust. Photo / File
Elmer Peiffer, the co-director of Rotorua Whakaora, said the demand for food grants had ramped up again to unprecedented levels.
Peiffer said Covid-19 was continuing to take its toll with the service now operating seven days a week to help cope with demand.
"We are now feeding 4000 to 5000 people a week compared to up to 3000 depending on what food is available and the demand from neighbouring towns."
Peiffer said at least 40 per cent of those seeking help were first-time clients and one-third had lost their job or had their hours reduced.
The need would surge again once the Government's wage subsidy ended on August 15 and the expected increase in winter bills also started to hit people's pockets, he said.
Tiny Deane, of Rotorua-based charity Visions of a Helping Hand, said his trust had helped more than 150 people since the Covid-19 lockdown.
"This includes many people who have lost jobs and are struggling to keep a roof over their heads, as well as pay for food, power and other bills," he said.
"Demand has just been over the top and out of control and it is not going to stop anything soon.
"We service people's needs all over the Rotorua and surrounding districts including Murupara, Tokoroa, Pukehina and Maketu.
"We have helped literally hundreds of families and delivered more than 1000 food parcels to all iwi and hapu groups in the district for distribution.
"A lot of the work is done under the radar and since we moved to alert level 3 we have also helped 23 families get into housing."
Salvation Army Rotorua lieutenant Kylie Overbye. Photo / File
Rotorua's Salvation Army Corps officer Kylie Overbye said the numbers of people seeking help to feed themselves had more than doubled this year.
From January 1 to July 1, 838 food parcels had been handed out plus nine families had also been helped with clothing, linen and household packages, she said.
Overbye said this included 447 families in the quarter ended June 30 compared to 135 families in the same quarter last year, she said.
She said most of the increased demand was due to the impacts of Covid-19.
Overbye said the Army was also seeing a lot of people who had never accessed the service before and the level demand was only going to surge again in the coming weeks.
"I do believe we are seeing the calm before the storm.
"It's not just assistance with food but the stress people are under which is only going to result in more demand for other types of support, such as budgeting and social work type services."
The Rotorua Salvation Army Foodbank is open on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 10am - 2pm.
Jono Bell, the Army's Territorial Director of Community Ministries, said they had seen an unprecedented increase in demand nationwide.
Between March 25 and May 25, 36,972 food parcels were given out, with almost one-third or 11,242 people first-time clients.
Bell urged people to support the Army's winter appeal which runs until July 31.
"This winter we're rolling up our sleeves again to support the expected surge in the number of vulnerable New Zealanders who will face tough choices over their essentials.
"Many of those work in our hardest-hit industries, such as hospitality and seasonal work.
"Others are migrant workers, with English as a second language, or work in unstable zero-hour contracts. Most have never had to ask for help before," Bell said.
"We also have a new cohort of New Zealanders experiencing financial difficulties for the first time in their lives.
"The Government has put great support systems in place during lockdown but it's long-term support that is going to be needed," he said.
The latest Ministry of Social Development figures also show the increased demand for food grants, with 12,093 issued in the Bay of Plenty region last month.
MSD paid out 62,068 food grants in the Bay of Plenty region in the four months to June 30, which included 23,432 in April, and 15,020 in May.
On average 9000 to 10,000 food grants were paid each month pre-Covid.
The Red Cross is also helping manage a $37.6m government fund launched on July 1 to help stranded foreign nationals with food and other forms of assistance.
