Soup kitchen needed by more of Napier's poor

Swannell family members, Zedekiah (left), 7, Kiri, Tiana, 16, Kevin, and Rachael, 7, run a mobile soup kitchen for Napier's needy. Photo / Paul Taylor

There are more families and homeless people relying on a free soup kitchen to feed them.

Kiri Swannell runs the soup kitchen with husband Kevin, and any number of their six children, in Clive Square on Monday nights.

More than 50 people had been turning up during the past three weeks, she said. Some people had even walked from Maraenui.

"School holidays makes it harder for families. We're getting a lot of them coming down with small children."

There were also more people living on the street.

"Homelessness is up. We're probably at about 15 people, but that's just the people who come down to us. There are more on the streets. It's young guys, usually in their 20s, who get kicked out of their flats with no money."

In one instance she met a young man who was living out of a van with three babies and two teenagers. The man declined to speak to Hawke's Bay Today.

Ms Swannell said the soup kitchen was the only free weekly meal service on offer. The family planned to set up an emergency shelter for the homeless, the first of its kind in Hawke's Bay.

Ms Swannell will travel to Wellington next month to look at a model shelter.

"I do want to have [the shelter] up and running at the end of this year. There's a huge need for something like this."

The family was nominated for last year's Hawke's Bay Today Person of the Year.

The Swannells were also national finalists in the inaugural Pride of New Zealand Awards this year, in the Community Spirit Award category, after winning at the lower North Island regional awards ceremony.

Ms Swannell was calling on donations or volunteers from the community to help with the running of the soup kitchen.

-To donate or volunteer, phone Ms Swannell on: 027 285 5454.