Christmas Appeal: Final push for the Tauranga Community Foodbank as demand rises

It’s been an “intense” week at the Tauranga Community Foodbank with many new, stressed people and families needing help with food.

It comes at the end of the fifth week of the Bay of Plenty Times’ six-week annual Christmas Appeal for the foodbank.

As of midday yesterday, the foodbank had received a total of $173,711. This is broken down into $114,389.10 in cash donations and 23,729 food items, with each item valued at $2.50.

This is just behind the same time last year, when $179,631 had been raised.

This week’s total is a huge jump from last week, when the total cash and food donations stood at $106,318.

Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin said there were “so many” new and stressed people and families needing help this week.

But the stress turned into “sighs of relief” along with “grateful tears and hugs” once they were given the food support.

Along with the donations of money and food from businesses, whānau, groups and retirement villages have been “fabulous” food donations with lots of Christmas goodies.

Goodwin said she had “never seen so many volunteers working at the foodbank each day”.

“I looked around yesterday and was amazed at how focused everyone was on getting things done and getting people’s food support organised.”

Next week would fly by and she hoped to see the community “give it one final push” as the foodbank helped those in the community to get through.

She believed the appeal would reach last year’s success, or at least get close.

It was difficult financially for so many this year, “so we would never want to put someone in the position of feeling like they need to donate when they are not in a position to do so”.

This year has brought record demand as the organisation spent an average of $20,012 a month on staple foods, compared with $14,758 a month the year before.

In last year’s six-week appeal, $256,471 was donated – $167,758.84 in cash and $88,712 in food. It was the highest amount raised in the appeal’s history. The second highest was a total of $254,416, donated in 2020.

Tauranga Community Foodbank wishlist 2023

• Treats
• Cereal
• Spreads
• Nappies: Sizes 4, 5 and 6
• Drinking chocolate and coffee
• Muesli bars
• Canned fruit
• Tinned fish

Any items are welcome, even if they’re not on the list. Cash donations are also welcome.

Cira Olivier is a social issues and breaking news reporter for NZME Bay of Plenty. She has been a journalist since 2019.