Reinforcements for Fresh Start

Fresh Start 20/20 Kaitaia manager Sophie Smith-Cressy and treasurer Julie Rickit are looking forward to a much better year. Photo/ Peter Jackson

Last month's plea for support from Fresh Start 20/20 Kaitaia (Food bank of the last resort, September 10) was well and truly heard. Eleven people arrived for the annual general meeting, with the same number of apologies, manager Sophie Smith-Cressy saying she had been told that that was the first time in more than a decade that more than four had attended.

The committee, she said, was now back to full strength, and looking forward to a much more secure future.

Prior to the AGM she said the organisation had been going well until late last year, when founding member Rose Walker took well earned retirement, followed by four other committee members, who were unable to continue thanks to work commitments.

That left a committee of five, she said, and a constitution requiring a quorum of four for the monthly meetings.

"We've been very fortunate in that everyone has kept showing up," she said, but the organisation was sailing close to the wind, and really did need some new faces.

Committee membership was not onerous, involving just one meeting a month, on the third Tuesday, for about an hour from 2.30pm.

The food bank, which was now the organisation's major focus, was supported by two volunteers, one of whom was there every day to sort out parcels, and the other being on call, as required, to take care of various administrative tasks.