St Vincent de Paul general manager Mike Rolton checks stock in the new Vinnies Food Bank in Hamilton before it was opened yesterday. Photo / Peter Tiffany
St Vincent de Paul general manager Mike Rolton checks stock in the new Vinnies Food Bank in Hamilton before it was opened yesterday. Photo / Peter Tiffany
Mike Rolton is general manager of a busy organisation that is expanding to meet a growing demand and which today opened a big new outlet in Hamilton for suppliers and clients from across the region.
You might say business is booming the length and breadth of Waikato; from Raglan out west to the east coast and from Huntly in north Waikato to as far south as Taumarunui, Mike juggles the challenges of supply and demand on a tight budget while relying on volunteers to make up orders.
Mike, with a small team of staff, plus those vital volunteers, is in the "business" of feeding the poor.
He's the boss of the St Vincent de Paul charity in Hamilton - the people who run the Vinnies stores - the second hand shops which provide a large part of the money to operate the Vinnies Food Bank.
"This is a growth industry, and it shouldn't be," says Mike as he takes Waikato News on a tour of the food bank's new warehouse which was officially opened and blessed this morning by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hamilton, Stephen Lowe.
"Ten years ago when I started at SVDP our food bank was a cupboard in the office, now it is this," says Mike as he indicates the five-tiered warehouse shelving packed with tinned food and breakfast cereals, the pallets of produce, the trays of bread, stacks eggs, and the row of chest freezers.
So, who are the "poor" who need so much help these days and what is driving the growth in demand?
Forget the stereotype of food parcels providing temporary help to those down on their luck or homeless.
Like many of the woes of the world today, the finger of blame points to the spread of Covid-19 and the economic disruption it has sparked.
"Pre-Covid we used to be helping 12 to 15 families a day," says Mike, "that jumped to 70 families a day during the level 4 lockdown.
"It never went back to pre-Covid levels, and we are now helping 30 to 40 families a day.
"We used to be part of the Combined Christian Food Bank; during the first lockdown there was so much demand for food help that we realised we needed our own food bank.
"We used to manage social distancing by arranging parcel pick-ups at 10 min intervals and it worked well, now we need more space for the quantity of food.
"Yes, there were people who lost their jobs who need food help, but there is a growing class of people which many social agencies now call the 'working poor'.
"There are those on the wage subsidy who find it is just not enough after paying basics such as rent and power," says Mike.
There are those who used to work 50 hours a week and have had their hours cut to 40 a week, or now just work four days a week, and struggle to stretch their budget.
Food parcels are made up according to the size of the family, with details received at the Vinnies office in Commerce St then sent electronically to the new warehouse elsewhere in Frankton.
Volunteer packers come in from 12.30pm to 3pm to get the boxes ready for dispatch. Last week they gave out 105 parcels.
"We get lots of eggs donated, but they don't last long," says St Vincent de Paul general manager Mike Rolton. Photo / Peter Tiffany
A food parcel is intended to contain enough food for three days. A family or individual can receive a total of three food parcels before they are required to sit down with the Vinnies budgeters to make a spending plan.
Of course, to make a plan you do need to have some money.
"We recently helped a single working guy who after paying his weekly rent of $350 was left with $57 to live on," says Mike.
"The problems are not going away, rents are killing it and we are generally a low-wage economy.
"We deal with a lot of the overflow from MSD (Work and Income) when people have been through all the options available there, they are referred to us.
"Vetting checks are done to ensure those seeking help do have a genuine need - in my experience 95 per cent of the people who come to us are genuine.
"Luckily, we seem to have a constant supply of food," says Mike, although that seems more due to good management than good luck.
Stock control is tight to monitor what is running short. "We are fairly well stocked at the moment, although we are short of meat; but we do have some butchers who give us really good support," says Mike.
"Eggs we get donated, lots of eggs, but they don't last long, a family with six kids will go through a tray of eggs in a couple of days.
"We get potatoes mostly from Te Awamutu - nothing wrong with them, not taken for retail because they not all the same shape.
"Schools are one of our greatest supporters, especially for canned goods, although during the first lockdown schools were shut and that supply was cut off.
"Vinnies provides lunches to about 30 schools; in return we ask for cans and at the larger schools one can per student can produce up to 1000 cans of food," says Mike.
"We have a particular need at the moment for women's toiletry products, they are in short supply.
"We are always in need of fresh fruit and vegetables, also canned and dry grocery items although the schools collection does keep the canned food topped up."
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP
If you want to help, or if you are in need of food, phone the Vinnies office 07-8474044.
There are three things people can give: • Goods • Time • Cash
No matter if it is a few tins of food, a bin of vegetables or a pallet of dry groceries, all will help meet the growing demand.
There is a special need at the moment for donations of women's toiletry products.
