Tauranga Community Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin talks about demand and new support criteria.
More than 13,000 people sought help from the Tauranga Community Foodbank last year, and more than a thousand others have been assisted with food parcels last month.
Food bank manager Nicki Goodwin said since the food bank depot reopened after the Christmas and New Year break, 1194 people had beenassisted with 389 food parcels.
"Current demand is what we expected it to be at this time of year, which is on par with the same time last year, but as schooling costs hit families we expected demand to rise."
Goodwin said demand overall last year was about 15 per cent less than in 2017.
In 2018, 13,541 people including thousands of children were helped with 4759 food parcels, compared to 5046 parcels issued to 15,548 people in 2017, she said.
"Some of this decrease is because we have tightened up our criteria to ensure we channel our resources to those who need it the most," Goodwin said.
"We're not here to support those who make bad decisions with their food purchases nor those who say they've run out of food because friends or extended family are visiting."
Goodwin said last year's Bay of Plenty Times Christmas Appeal raised a record $154,497.45, with $90,335.45 cash donations and $64,162 worth of donated items.
"We're rapt as the annual Christmas appeal has given us peace of mind as we begin planning ahead for the next 12 months, particularly as our costs have gone up."
Goodwin said from this year the food bank will have to pay full market rent in the region of $40,000. Its power bills had also gone up to about $300 a month.
Goodwin said last year Tauranga City Council helped subside the rent for six months.
"We also had to pay $11,000 in December to insulate the building," she said.
While demand for food parcels remained steady, continued support from the community was needed all year round, as demand could change in a heartbeat.
Goodwin encouraged those needing help to contact the food bank via its website.
"It costs nothing to send us an email and if we cannot help we can refer people to agencies who can as there is a lot of community support often people don't know about."
Goodwin said 25 per cent of those helped were wage earners, and the balance were people receiving benefits, superannuants, ACC beneficiaries and students.
"We know it's hard and sometimes soul-destroying for people to come forward to ask for help, but doing so is far better than waiting until it becomes a dire situation."
