Pak‘nSave Whanganui had supplied them with festive foods to be included in next week’s food parcels.
The need for food parcels has increased as the cost of living puts people in precarious financial situations, Nobbs said.
“A lot of families, for example, would be two-income families and all you need is the car to break down or a dentist bill or school fees or a camp or something like that and it pushes people over the edge.”
Christmas increased the financial stresses faced by families.
“There’s expectations around whether you can get your kids presents or you cannot get your kids presents and if you can’t feed them it’s not a good time.
“We would be under pressure anyway, but we’re under pressure more because of the financial crisis.”
The mission was supporting other lunches in Whanganui by supplying food, such as for a lunch being held by the Koha Shed and another already held by Unity Food.
Unity Food general manager Azian Zulkifli said 50 people turned up to their lunch and all left happy.
“It all went smoothly, the food was delicious,” she said.
She said the purpose of Unity Food was to build a community and providing lunch was part of this.
“There were several older single people and one was so excited, one said, ‘Oh, I didn’t think that there was going to be anything for Christmas,’ and he was so grateful.”
Nobbs was glad other community groups were hosting Christmas lunches and events.
“People can’t do it on the same scale as has been done in the past but I guess that’s the reality,” he said.
It was unlikely the mission would hold the lunch next year either as they were currently occupied with ways to keep sourcing food.
Hakeke St Community Centre holding Christmas event
Hakeke St Community Centre and Library has a community Christmas event at Williams Domain in Whanganui East on Saturday, December 16, from 11am to 2pm.
Acting manager Din Bandara said the event was first held in 2022, with around 600 people attending.
“Last year we did a lot of work connecting with the community to get involved, and this year was different because people came to us, which was really nice.”
Bandara said the event was the brainchild of the president and vice-president of the community centre trust board.
“It was coming out of Covid, there were a lot of difficulties with families and money so they just wanted to bring some cheer to the community.”
Food for this year’s event will be provided by Rapid Relief, the local Sri Lankan community and Love and Learn Care and Education.
There will be entertainment including bouncy castles, miniature ponies, military jeep rides and a Christmas display at the community centre where kids can get their photos taken with Santa.
Performances will be given by local acts including Hula Beats and country singer Sophie Toyne.
There will be a singing and dancing competition with $600 worth of prizes up for grabs.
Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.
