Volunteers of the month giving back to the community

Jenny Johnson and Grant Fothergill (absent from photo) are winners of this month's Volunteer of the Month, from Volunteer Whanganui.

Jenny Johnson and Grant Fothergill are winners of this month’s Volunteer of the Month, from Volunteer Whanganui, for their work at Unity Foods in Whanganui for nearly two years.

“We collect food from generous providers, put it on tables, and at 3pm open the doors for people to get their food requirements,” says Jenny. “People don’t get by on the benefit, or even some working families, who are struggling because, by the time they pay their rent, power or mortgage, they don’t have a lot of money left.

“We offer a bit of extra food for free, at Christ Church Anglican Hall in Wickstead St. Some people struggling on the pension will come along, to top up their cupboards every week with what they can’t afford.

“As grocery prices have increased, more people have been coming along, ranging between 100-200 people each week. In October we will be putting on a Tuesday lunchtime meal once a month,” she said.

Jenny and Grant were homeless, and couldn’t make ends meet, so Sonny from Unity Foods dropped off food parcels for them. After that, Jenny and Grant decided to come along to Unity Foods.

“They helped us, so that’s why we do the voluntary work that we do,” said Jenny. “We are giving back what Unity Foods did for us, we are giving back to the public.

“We travel 47km from Rata to Whanganui each week to do this volunteering work, no matter where we are, we promised we would help out each Friday.

“Last time I was told, there were around 200 homeless people in Whanganui. It’s increased because landlords don’t want to get their houses up to standard, so they sell them. That makes those poor tenants end up out on the street.

“The waiting list for Housing Corp. houses is illustrated by the fact that I’ve been on it for two years and Grant has been on it for three years.

“If people want to donate food, contact Unity Foods on their Facebook page or contact the team at Christ Church in Wickstead St. There is a bank account to donate money to. Any excess of fruit or vegetables in people’s gardens, or cans of food, can be dropped off at 12 noon on Fridays,” said Jenny.

The nomination from Unity Foods for Jenny and Grant read: “Having joined our team in 2022, both have experienced adversity in their lives and it has been heartwarming to see them find a more permanent home.

“Both have shown their unwavering support and loyalty to Unity Food, driving to Whanganui every week to prepare, set up and hand out free food to the community.

“They are reliable and lots of fun to have as part of our team. We are grateful for their continuous involvement and hard work. They are a caring couple, who go above and beyond to help people out.

“I believe they deserve this acknowledgement and we would like to nominate them as a token of appreciation from the Unity Food team.