Tauranga community centres struggle to meet rising demand for food aid

Gemma Cramp and a volunteer helping at Kai Day at the Merivale Community Centre.

Community centres across Tauranga Moana are grappling with surging demand as more families seek support, Welcome Bay and Merivale community centre managers say.

At Merivale Community Centre’s weekly Kai Day, held on Mondays, the number of families turning up for assistance has jumped from about 50 a year ago to as many as 167 during Anzac week, office manager Gemma Cramp said.

“The need is there, and some of them are working families. They’ve got two incomes and it’s still not enough.”

Kai Day runs from the centre’s temporary base at 386 Fraser St but will return to its former site at 10 Kesteven Ave in September, when the newly-built Merivale community centre opens.

Volunteers hand out food bags using supplies from Good Neighbour, community donations, and local support – helping families make it through to the next payday, Cramp said.

One community member had left $5000 at the Merivale Butchery, which Cramp said allowed the centre to purchase meat for families.

“We make sure it’s enough for one meal for a family of four or five.”

Poor budgeting or heavy drinking and drugs were often assumed to be the issue of poor financial management, but Cramp said rising living costs and soaring rents were the real culprits.

Families could access food parcels up to four times before being connected with services such as Bay Financial Mentors, based at the Historic Village, to develop a longer-term plan. But it was not always a straightforward fix.

“Financial mentors tell us they’ve got clients with no debts, no mobile phones because they can’t afford one – and they still can’t buy food,” Cramp said.

Cramp said a minimum wage of $780.80 per week and Tauranga’s average rent of $720 meant many households were left with next to nothing.

“People are struggling with everything,” she said.

“We’ve had people say they couldn’t afford to get home because they’d spent their last money getting to work.”

When someone arrived at Kai Day, they queued before Cramp carried out a quick needs assessment.

Volunteers packing boxes at Kai Day.

The person was then invited in to select items suited to their household.

“We keep things as fair as possible,” Cramp said.

No one was denied help at Merivale Community Centre, but the help offered was only meant to patch things over until payday, Cramp said.

The event was largely volunteer-run, including help from Māori warden “Poppa” Phil Wilson, who was involved in founding the original Merivale Community Centre.

But Wilson said volunteering came with no special treatment. “It’s about serving the community.”

Once the centre returns to its former location in September, the Fraser St building would be removed, he said.

The centre also received support from David and Jodie Turner, who prepare ready-made meals for families to take home.

Merivale Community Centre general manager Dave Merton.

General manager Dave Merton works with Good Neighbour and helps deliver food parcels to those unable to attend in person.

“Everyone rolls up their sleeves and does the mahi,” he said.

Merton said space at the current location is tight, especially when food donations arrive in bulk.

“We’re the busiest we’ve ever been – even busier than during Covid.”

In Welcome Bay

Welcome Bay Community Centre was also feeling the pressure. Manager Lucy Brooks said the centre was seeing about 2200 people a month, despite being open only four days a week.

“We’re talking about 50 people a day,” Brooks said.

At Welcome Bay’s Kai Day, queues once stretched across the road, but because of safety concerns, Brooks said people now waited inside.

“There used to be a queue over the road. Now, they can choose whether they want to be outside or inside.”

Both Welcome Bay and Merivale sorted food items, such as vegetables, meat, and bread, onto separate tables, but also included toiletries for people.