From left, Rotorua Salvation Army food security co-ordinator Tracey Ball, community ministries manager Darnielle Hoods, and community ministries wellbeing team leader Sally Wilson. Photo / Annabel Reid
Queues of people needing support regularly spill out the front doors of the Rotorua Salvation Army.
Community ministries manager Darnielle Hoods said demand for the organisation’s foodbank and related services grew “exponentially” this year.
The number of referrals for help has surpassed the 2024 total, with just over six weeks of the year still to go.
As of this week, 2025 referrals totalled 3788.
That was on top of a doubling of referrals from 1701 in 2023 to 3752 in 2024.
Today, the Rotorua Daily Post launches its annual six-week Christmas Appeal for the Rotorua Salvation Army Foodbank.
Last year’s appeal had a record-breaking final donation tally of $103,683.50, made up of 18,940 food items valued at an average of $2.50 each, $25,786 in vouchers or cash donations and 634 high-quality toys.
This year’s Christmas Appeal was about “showing our most vulnerable that they’re not forgotten during the festive season”, Hoods said.
Some families and individuals in the Rotorua community were facing “real hardship”.
Soaring rents, rising food and fuel prices, medical expenses and mounting debt were among the factors pushing many households beyond what they could manage.
“Parents [are] going without food just so their children get to eat,” Hoods said.
Some families were living “week to week”, sacrificing one bill to pay another and working multiple jobs to “make ends meet”.
Hoods said Mondays and Fridays had become the busiest days for the Salvation Army team.
More people experiencing homelessness turned to the Salvation Army for help this year.
The visibility of the issue outside the service and complaints of poor behaviour by some rough sleepers became a flashpoint in midwinter, leading the council to issue trespass orders.
The Salvation Army said its mission was to help, and moving people on did not solve the underlying issues.
Hoods said that, from January, 127 individuals, including “dependants”, had been identified as homeless or in hidden living situations.
The organisation had seen an increase in people without stable housing seeking food through its Pātaka Kai initiative and Te Kai Mākona choice-model supermarket.
Not all homelessness is visible, however, and the hidden homeless – those living in cars, garages, overcrowded homes or couch-surfing – is a growing concern.
Hoods said it was a “reality many are living”, and sleeping in vehicles was “quite normal” for many the organisation supported.
Many whānau stayed hidden because they felt too “whakamā” (ashamed, shy), often coming forward only once their situation had become desperate.
“Hidden homeless is hidden for a reason,” Hoods said.
Some lived with relatives until they had “outworn their welcome”, fracturing family relationships. Others shared stories of financial hardship or personal setbacks that left them without stable housing.
In the past few months, staff had observed an increase in displaced whānau arriving in Rotorua for support.
She said the stories the team heard of how people found themselves in these positions were “disheartening” and “not always what people think”.
“The struggle is real.”
The Salvation Army team often met people when their vehicle had figuratively “gone over the side of the cliff”, Hoods said.
Helping them to rebuild “belief and hope” might not be easy, but the appeal helped.
“When you give, you’re directly changing lives.”
Givers ensured children would wake up to something under the tree, that families would have a warm meal, and that people would know “their community cares about them”, she said.
Hoods wanted the community to know there was value in “every single item” that went into the Salvation Army.
A can of spaghetti for someone who had nothing “means more than they could imagine”.
She hoped the Christmas Appeal would help with school holiday lunches, festive meals, and standard items for cooking over the summer break.
Rotorua Daily Post editor Kim Gillespie said the Christmas Appeal was an annual highlight. It not only provided a much-needed helping hand during tough times but also demonstrated the kindness and generosity of Rotorua residents.
“We’re proud to once again support the crucial work of the foodbank. They do such an amazing job and a hugely important one.
“Thank you in advance, Rotorua. We know you’ll come to the party, as you do year after year, to help local people in need.”
The Hits Rotorua’s annual Fill the Bus collection will be held on December 4, with several other annual donation events run by businesses and community groups also returning.
Rotorua MP Todd McClay said the city’s generosity was on display every year through the appeal, describing it as an important cause at a time when Christmas could be “costly and stressful” for many families.
The foodbank played a vital role in supporting the community and encouraged locals to give what they could.
“Each can of beans or packet of biscuits donated makes a difference.
“I’ll be digging through my own cupboard and encourage others to do the same.”
McClay said National Party members would again be collecting for the appeal, and people could drop off food donations at his electorate office in Amohau St.
The main donation collection points are the Salvation Army building and the foyer of Rotorua Lakes Council’s Civic Centre.
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said it was “always special” to see the generosity of the community and staff as “growing piles of gifts and food” formed.
“This is the manaakitanga [kindness] that Rotorua is so well known for.”
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.