A warm and colourful welcome awaits clients and volunteers at the CHB Food Basket.
The CHB Food Basket began in Central Hawke’s Bay five years ago, collecting leftover food from cafés and supermarkets and distributing it to about 100 households a week in need of it.
Now, The Food Basket regularly tops up the pantries of up to 700 households, helping out where needed and keeping tonnes of food from going to the region’s landfill.
CHB Food Basket manager Mel King says the organisation has evolved according to the need.
“During Covid, we were able to adapt quickly from clients collecting food to a delivery model ... taking food directly to people’s doorsteps during lockdown.
“Now, we are back to our drop-in sessions, which include three Waipukurau days, one in Waipawa, one in Takapau and one in Ōtāne, with supplies also sent to Pōrangahau and delivered to elderly clients on ‘Sunshine Sundays’.
Other developments include the Food Basket’s inclusion in nationwide entities Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective, the Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance and the NZ Food Network.
“We’re now a member of all of these larger organisations, and it’s a real acknowledgement of our role and our value to be invited to be part of them,” Mel says.
“They work together to co-ordinate resources nationwide. Once a week, the NZ Food Network lets us know what they have available - and of course, we always say ‘yes please’ - and freight companies deliver the food for free.”
When deliveries arrive, they unload at Mitre 10 Waipukurau and a call goes out on Facebook for willing hands to help unload and transfer the goods to the CHB Food Basket. Dozens turn up to help.
“Mitre 10 Waipukurau hosts the trucks for us, and if staff are available, they will help unload - their time and energy is a big part of the mechanism that gets this food around Central Hawke’s Bay. We really do punch above our weight to achieve what we do here in CHB.”
Other food sources are supermarkets and private individuals - gardeners with surplus produce - and exchanges with other food rescues. Mel says they are “completely reliant on what has been donated and rescued that week or that day”.
Some bulk items are passed out to be cooked into meals, which are frozen and distributed through the Food Basket.
Mel says the Food Basket is also benefitting from the professional support of the New Zealand Food Network, especially as the local organisation grows and diversifies.
“NZ Food Network, Afra and Kore Kore Hiakai are working together, with funding from the Ministry for Social Development, to work around food security in New Zealand. They are creating awareness, investigating new initiatives and looking for solutions. We are proud to be part of this.”
The Food Basket has a team of up to 30 volunteers, and Mel says one of the best things about the organisation is the opportunity for people to just “come along and get involved”.
“If you’ve ever wanted to get involved and volunteer, we can use your skills, talents, interests... we have people doing everything from growing vegetables to cooking meals, and even making TikToks.
“The Food Basket is an open doorway for people to share knowledge, enthusiasm and resources. That’s where the gold is. It’s not just about food.”
The Food Basket has Waipukurau sessions from 10am - 2pm at the Community Rooms on Kitchener Street on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Waipawa’s session is at the Senior Citizens’ Rooms on Waverley Street, Tuesday from 11am - 12pm.
The Takapau session is at the Health Centre on Thursday from 2pm - 6pm, and the Ōtāne session is at the Ōtāne Hall on Saturday from 9am - 10am.
You can contact CHB Food Basket via Facebook or by phoning 027 334 4039.