SuperGrans to the rescue

HELPING HAND: It’s all hands on deck at SuperGrans Tairāwhiti as its team react to the increased need for kai parcels. Volunteer and Gisborne Boys’ High student Jett Whitaker is using his time off school productively by helping fill food boxes with essential items like Weet-Bix , bottled water and canned goods. Picture by Paul Rickard

IT is a hive of activity at SuperGrans Tairāwhiti Trust on Pitt Street as its crew work hard to meet the increased welfare need caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

SuperGrans is leading food supply support for Civil Defence Emergency Management and is working closely with TRONP (Te Runanganui o Ngāti Porou) and TROTAK (Te Runanganui o Turanganui-a-Kiwa).

The team from EIT Te Kupenga’s hospitality school are cooking up a storm at the Pitt Street site as well as in the kitchens at EIT so people can receive cooked meals.

“The chefs are making soup, rice and mince dishes and using up the food we had on site,” SuperGrans general manager Linda Coulston said.

“We had a good amount of stock on hand and were prepared for this.”

Kai parcels are being packed up and sent out, as well as 84 lots of bedding and pillows which have gone to emergency shelters in Gisborne and further afield as needed.

They have already distributed 400 kai parcels and are getting hundreds of hot meals out to vulnerable people who need them, often by helicopter to isolated areas.

Ms Coulston acknowledged and thanked Foodstuffs which donated $20,000 of products from Pak’nSave supermarket.

“The Warehouse has also been very responsive and provided us with water, cereals, canned goods and toilet paper. Our thanks also go out to Toha Foundry which has sourced a lot of fresh produce for us.”

SuperGrans volunteers have been busy helping people who have queued up outside the building needing assistance.

To donate to the relief effort, go to the SuperGran Tairāwhiti Trust website.