World Homeless Day marked at Greerton Hall with a free community meal. Photo / Sandra Conchie
World Homeless Day marked at Greerton Hall with a free community meal. Photo / Sandra Conchie
To mark World Homeless Day in Tauranga about 150 diners enjoyed a scrumptious free community meal at Greerton Hall thanks to the generosity of a well-known sponsor.
Tauranga founder and director promoter Pato Alvarez joined forces with voluntary organisation Kai Aroha and Te Tuinga Whanau Social Services Trust to showtheir kindness to those in our community experiencing homelessness or food poverty.
The free community meal event was run by Kai Aroha, who is one of the organisations in Tauranga that regularly feeds struggling community members.
Alvarez, who started Pato Entertainment is behind some of New Zealand's biggest music festivals One Love and Bay Dreams, was the guest speaker and main sponsor of the meal.
Alvarez donated $1000 to pay for the scrumptious meal which included steak, kebabs, meat patties, tasty salads, bread rolls and yummy desserts.
As some of the diners still feasted, Alvarez shared his story of how he had experienced homelessness for two years to highlight that homelessness touches all walks of life.
There was laughter as he shared some of the funnier sides of his journey, including struggling to find a job and roof over his head when he first arrived in Tauranga.
Pato Alvarez talking to diners at the World Homeless Day free community meal event at Greerton Hall. Photo / Sandra Conchie
Alvarez and Pato Entertainment are now passionate supporters of Te Tuinga and Kai Aroha, and said he was thrilled to be part of the "amazing" kaupapa of love and kindness.
"I feel very proud of my homeless struggles because it laid the foundation for the person I am today," he said.
"Homelessness is something that not only defines you during your downs but when you're going up too. It can get really hard but never feel ashamed of your struggles and with help of these amazing caring people here tonight you can get to the top again."
Kai Aroha founder Tania Lewis-Rickard said the World Homeless Day event was about showing these community members that there are people who do care about their plight.
"This is about sitting together, eating kai together and sharing stories together and showing those who need help and love they do not have to struggle alone."
Diners enjoyed a scrumptious meal at Greerton Hall to mark World Homeless Day. Photo / Sandra Conchie
One of the diners, a Tauranga mother-of-two pre-schoolers living in her car, said the food and love shown to her and family had been "awesome ".
"The kai was right on point and so were the amazing, wonderful people who put on this event...Pato's story was just amazing and so inspiring," she said.
Tommy Wilson, Executive Director of Te Tuinga, said his team helped serve the kai to community members and to the Kai Aroha members who they had walked alongside since they started four years ago.
"If Covid has taught us anything as a community and a country it is a little kindness goes a long way when times are tough and community kingpins came together to share some kai and kindness at Greerton Hall to remember World Homeless Day," he said.
"Greerton Hall is a great home for both Kai Aroha and Te Tuinga to service the needs of our homeless and through Bay Venues and Tauranga City Council we are looking at shifting our operations from Paparoa Marae out at Te Puna to a larger purpose-built commercial kitchen here at Greerton hall where we can prepare up to 500 meals a day".
