Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Donated food brings immediate help to desperate families

By Christine McKay
Hawkes Bay Today·
10 May, 2017 10:01 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Supporting the Ruahine Maori Wardens to do their job and bringing food to desperate families are a group of dedicated people, including Deanna (centre, middle row) and Charlie Timu (far right, middle row).

Supporting the Ruahine Maori Wardens to do their job and bringing food to desperate families are a group of dedicated people, including Deanna (centre, middle row) and Charlie Timu (far right, middle row).

For families struggling, sometimes all they have is the donated food Ruahine Maori Warden Charlie Timu delivers.

"We've approximately 50 families who are really finding it tough and it means everything when I turn up with food," Charlie said.

"The kids just about grab bread out of my hands."

The food the Ruahine Maori Wardens distribute is donated by New World Supermarket owners Garry and Bridget Hassler and includes, bread, buns, sausage rolls, biscuits, sugar, dented tins, rice, cereals and flour.

The couple also support Dannevirke foodbanks before passing their surplus on to the Maori Wardens to distribute.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The food is too good to waste, but the rules these days say we have to sell on the day. But it's still good," Mr Hassler said.

Charlie rebags sugar, flour, rice, cereals and biscuits before handing it out to those in desperate need.

"It's just about helping our community," she said. "And I work closely with the budgeting service to find families in need."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Shires Fruit and Vege Market also donate boxes of bananas when they are able to.
Deanna, the co-ordinator at Dannevirke and Districts Budget Services, works closely with Charlie as part of Zero Kai.

"If we can't get to the foodbanks, especially after hours, we can call Charlie," she said. "It's a huge service for our community, because sometimes that's all our families have. At the moment we have six on-going referrals but families may only need help for a week or so."

But it's not only food in their bellies Charlie delivers.

"Thank God I've got most of them up off the floor, they've now got beds, mattresses and blankets, thanks to the generosity of Graeme Eustace, the owner of Gebo's," she said. "And I help everyone, not just Maori."

That help extends to working at the courthouse and this week working in with the police to help a young man hand himself in at the police station, all the way through to making sure a rainy day doesn't mean getting wet for schoolchildren and their whanau.

"I pick up families walking home from school in the rain and our wardens help out at Saturday sports events, too," Charlie said.

But to carry out all the duties Charlie is looking for a volunteer administration person and extra wardens.

"We've got 10 at the moment, but many of them work fulltime, so having some extra help would be great."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today
|Updated

In the palm of his hand – the rise of a third top NZ men's shotputter

Hawkes Bay Today

'I feel aggrieved': 92-year-old online shopper's warning after supermarket meat purchase

Hawkes Bay Today

How new speed limits are making Hastings schools safer


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Premium
Premium
In the palm of his hand – the rise of a third top NZ men's shotputter
Hawkes Bay Today
|Updated

In the palm of his hand – the rise of a third top NZ men's shotputter

You know Tom Walsh and Jacko Gill, but a third Kiwi could join them at the world champs.

16 Jul 06:00 PM
'I feel aggrieved': 92-year-old online shopper's warning after supermarket meat purchase
Hawkes Bay Today

'I feel aggrieved': 92-year-old online shopper's warning after supermarket meat purchase

16 Jul 06:00 PM
How new speed limits are making Hastings schools safer
Hawkes Bay Today

How new speed limits are making Hastings schools safer

16 Jul 03:49 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP