Some people are moved to tears. Some just want to talk – for 45 minutes of reassurance and human contact. Some, when they get home with hundreds of dollars of PAK’nSAVE groceries, are so moved they text or email saying how “touched” they are.
It’s a barometer of how a beleaguered community in Hawke’s Bay has been reacting to the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle – a reaction still going on about two months after the cyclone struck and a sure sign that the PAK Your Pantry initiative is reaching the people intended.
PAK Your Pantry is the $575,000 PAK’nSAVE project aiming to help communities in the areas worst affected by the cyclone (including Hawke’s Bay, Coromandel, Gisborne, Wairoa, Northland and Auckland). The value of the gift cards is based on the size of the families.
The initiative is being run in conjunction with a handful of community partners, like Nourished For Nil, a Hastings-based food rescue organisation which collects food from supermarkets, cafes, manufacturers and growers and distributes them to families. Founder Christina McBeth says her organisation has noticed how people have reacted emotionally to what she calls “the dignity of choice” and a widespread feeling that the PAK’nSAVE initiative makes them feel they are being heard.
“It really is a generous scheme,” she says, “but it’s not necessarily for people who suffered minor flooding or a defrosted freezer. It’s for those whose houses or businesses were lost under a wall of silt, or houses lifted off their foundations or destroyed by trees.”
People apply through a link that leads them to the Nourished For Nil website or that of other community partners involved. They answer a few questions designed to see whether they qualify for help – and after confirmation, the gift cards can be picked up.
“What it means is that they can then do a supermarket shop,” she says. “It’s a way they can re-stock their pantry, but we are finding they are replenishing their resilience as well, as they come to terms with what’s happened.
“That’s what I mean by ‘dignity of choice’. Recipients have the authority to buy items they want or need – not what someone else assumes they need.”
McBeth says the depth of feeling post-cyclone has been unprecedented. Some people felt abandoned, others felt shock, adrift: “A lot of people have never faced anything like this before. These are capable people, hardworking Kiwis, and yet many think that others are worse off than them.
“But the reality dawns on them that it is worse for them and that they have to speak up – and these are people who have lived on farms and fended for themselves all their lives. Suddenly their way of life has been affected, their bridge has been washed away or their road has become impassable and they realise they need help.
Willa Hand, Head of Membership Experience for Foodstuffs North Island, the cooperative behind PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square stores, says the same kind of outpouring is often noticeable when the gift cards are collected at stores: “It’s not unusual, when gift cards are collected, that there are tears, sad stories, and frustrations shared. Often, it’s more than the exchange of a gift card, it’s a smile, a hug and some just want to talk about what they’ve been through.
Hand says the ‘PAK Your Pantry’ fund will eventually help about 1000 families. It follows $425,000 worth of product, or cash funding, already provided by parent company Foodstuffs North Island to support the immediate need of community partners, plus $250,000 of support for growers and partners, bringing the total provided by the co-op to over $1.25m so far.
“Many Kiwi families have lost everything in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle,” she says. “We know people are doing it tough and we want to make it as simple and easy as possible for those affected to get back on their feet – and re-packing their pantries full of essentials when they get back home or move into new accommodation is practical support.”
PAK Your Pantry is about being Here for NZ, a commitment PAK’nSAVE and Foodstuffs has made and which includes social promises to support local communities to thrive and to support every New Zealander to access healthy and affordable food.
Local PAK’nSAVE stores and community partners are supporting whānau across the worst-hit areas and Hand says all gift cards have now been given out: “PAK’nSAVE store owners wanted to do their part in helping Kiwis severely impacted. We hope our efforts have helped ease the burden for those affected and assist in helping them get back on their feet.”
McBeth says: “It’s such a good initiative that we paced ourselves over the last month – simply so we made sure the word gets spread around and so we didn’t get hard hit families contacting us, only to find out it all the gift cards have already been given out.”
For more information about PAK Your Pantry and PAK’nSAVE’s efforts to support communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle, please visit paknsave.co.nz/news/2023/cyclone-gabrielle