Community advocate Dave Letele to shut down South Auckland foodbank, citing costs

Dave Letele of Buttabean Motivation Foodbank in South Auckland said for many foodbanks it was a day-to-day hustle and grind to keep things going. Photo / Dean Purcell

Community advocate and champion New Zealander Dave Letele is closing down his South Auckland foodbank – which was supplying up to 1000 families a week.

Letele told the Herald he could no longer sustain the costs of running the foodbank. He broke the news of the closure to staff this morning.

The operation, which received $87,000 of Government support but was distributing more than $500,000 worth of kai, will wind down to Christmas and then close down for good.

“It’s real tough out there and I just can’t keep it going,” Letele said.

Dave Letele's BBM Foodbank team provides fresh fruit, vegetables and meat to those struggling. Photo / Supplied

“We got $87k government funding and that’s nowhere near enough. The corporate support is also slowing up.

“Grant funders are now receiving hundreds of applications for 40 grants every month.”

Letele said he had “zero” funding for his staff wages or building lease.

“I had a number of staff but now we only have two fulltime in the food share and relocated others across the organisation, like to the cafe we have opened,” he said.

“I don’t want to lose anyone so I’m looking at where people can go.”

Letele said at its height, the foodbank was catering for 700-1000 families a week.

“We are now down to between 150-200 families a week, which includes schools and a community group we support,” he said.

“If anyone turns up on our doorstep we never turn them away because we supply everything from meat to veges plus all the other essentials whānau need.”

Letele said he would be eternally grateful to the likes of Foodstuffs, NZ Food Network, Fonterra and Sanitarium, Bidfood and others.

“But it’s not enough to keep it all going,” Letele said.

“It would take about $1m to run it successfully and when I think about the pressure of me having to raise that type of cash, it gets to me mentally.

“It’s an incredibly hard decision but if I don’t make this decision now, it could pull down my entire organisation. I remain focused on our hand-up model of health, education and empowerment programmes.”

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