Salvation Army restock stolen food via public

Excellent public support has enabled the Salvation Army to restock items stolen from its Whangarei storage shed used to feed the needy.

On October 3, thieves broke into the storage shed and stole more than $2000 of nappies, cereal and baby food from the Salvation Army's Aubrey St building.

Some of the stolen items would have formed part of the 235 Christmas hampers the Salvation Army was preparing to give out to needy families in December.

The theft put a serious dent in the organisation's ability to assist the less fortunate but Salvation Army director of community ministries Peter Mullenger said the public response had been excellent.

More than $900 in cash was handed over within a week of the burglary being reported, he said.

A church donated a pallet of Weetbix which, Mr Mullenger said, was awesome because that covered for the missing cereals. As well, a supermarket chain in Wellington promised gift vouchers which would be able to replace stolen items.

"Just goes to show how great a city we live in," Mr Mullenger said.

"This [donation] has got us back to where we were at the time of the break-in but we've got an uphill battle, not just for the Christmas period but post-Christmas."

This year, he said the Salvation Army had invited other agencies such as the Northland District Health Board's mental health unit and budgeting outlets to put forward their clients for the hampers.

The Whangarei Salvation Army was planning to hand over 235 Christmas hampers to needy families before the burglary.

A day before the burglary, the Salvation Army's bridge programme office on Alexander St was also broken into but nothing was stolen.

Mr Mullenger was confident Christmas hampers would still be on the cards this year.

He said the Salvation Army gave out about $300,000 worth of goods every year and is always keen for more donations to help out the region's poor and needy.

Police are following strong leads into the burglary, but no arrests have been made.