Tauranga food rescue charity Good Neighbour 'grateful' for well-timed $105k funding boost

Good Neighbour's Jackie Payne prepares for the charitable trust's new commercial kitchen. File photo/Andrew Warner

Tauranga's Good Neighbour initiative has received a well-timed funding boost of $105,000.

The BayTrust grant, to be spread over three years in $35,000 increments, came just as the charity started building its new commercial kitchen at its Burrows St headquarters.

The organisation has recently relocated to the old Sunny's Variety Store on Tauranga's Hamilton St to allow for demolition of its Burrows St premise and the kitchen build, which was expected to be completed by early next year.

Baytrust chief executive Alastair Rhodes said the funding would help keep Good Neighbour running while it continued to expand its community programmes, which included food rescue and community gardens and involved more than 400 volunteers.

Rhodes said he was impressed by what Good Neighbour had achieved since it started in 2014.

"Their food rescue service is now diverting over 8 tonnes of food from landfill every week and redistributing it to 55 charities and social support agencies.

"They've also established 174 garden plots across the city (many of them in schools) and have delivered 104 tonnes of firewood to families in need."

Good Neighbour's food impact director John Paine. Photo/George Novak

The charity's food impact director John Paine said the grant would pay for administration, staff and operational costs such as power and insurance - all areas that were hardest to find funding for.

"We are incredibly grateful."