Whangarei Salvation Army food bank extends opening hours

Gay Matoe, right, of the Salvation Army's foodbank in Whangarei with Whangarei's Leanne Parsons who was given a food parcel yesterday. Photo / John Stone

A cash donation of $15,000 means Whangarei's Salvation Army can open its food bank for another day each week.

Countdown stores in Okara, Regent and Tikipunga have collectively donated the sum that will help pay for costs such as water and electricity for one year to run the food bank.

Salvation Army Whangarei's director of community ministries, Lieutenant Peter Koia, said the donation has made it possible for his staff to open the food bank on Monday as well.

Previously, it was open from Tuesday to Friday.

The foodbank has been running for more than 20 years and, at one stage, used to run from Monday to Friday but a decline in food donations forced the Salvation Army to run it for four days a week only.

Three families, including two new ones, came to the foodbank on Aubrey St on Monday after the $15,000 donation was formally announced on site.

The cash donation is separate from the food items Countdown and other donors would be giving to struggling families on Mondays.

"The $15,000 donation was offered to us two months ago but because of the school holidays when our staff and volunteers have commitments with their children and the fact we have to prepare for extended opening hours, we decided to delay opening the foodbank on Monday to this week," Mr Koia said.

He said a mixture of families from Auckland who have moved up to Whangarei and local residents struggling with household costs such as power bills and rent were turning up at the foodbank.

Mr Koia said his foodbank staff were seeing up to 17 families daily and they varied between those with a single child to a family of up to nine people.

The foodbank gave out 2744 food parcels between March last year and March this year.

"Bring open on a Monday takes the pressure off our staff a bit later on in the week. A trend we're seeing is people just don't have enough money for a number of reasons and power bills and rent are the major reasons."

Some struggling Northland families, he said, who come from out of Whangarei to request food items were generally helped considering they have travelled far.

Apart from seeing people at the foodbank, Salvation Army staff also drop off food parcels to families who could not pick them up.

A pot of soup is taken to two schools one day a week to help with lunch and a new house initiative has just started on a cost-sharing basis between the Salvation Army and the Ministry of Social Development.

Struggling families are put in emergency housing identified by the Salvation Army for 12 weeks.