Lunchbox lady's car stolen

GUTTED: Tinaya Johnston, the woman behind Glenholme Lunches, had her car stolen and thrashed at the weekend. PHOTO/BEN FRASER 130715bf2

The head and heart behind Glenholme Lunches, Tinaya Johnston, is "facing a difficult decision" after her only form of transport was stolen and "thrashed" during a joy ride.

But Ms Johnston said having her car stolen at the weekend was only the latest in a series of unfortunate events threatening the continuation of her initiative.

Ms Johnston is the Rotorua mum who in May started making $5 school lunches for children who may have otherwise gone without.

She said while she was pleased her car was found on Sunday, it had been "thrashed" during a joy ride and needed new tyres, a new windscreen and a new engine.

"I had been trying to sell it and on Friday my partner and a guy who said he was interested in buying it took it for a ride. When they got back, the guy dropped my partner off and took off with it.

"Thankfully it was a case of who you know, as many people saw the car around town and reported it to the police at the same time I did."

Rotorua police confirmed the car was reported stolen on Saturday and they received more than one call about it being seen around town.

"I was humbled by the fact that people had my back and were so helpful in locating the car but it is just one more thing influencing my decision whether to continue my Glenholme Lunches project," Ms Johnston said.

She said the first term of her lunch-making charity had been a difficult one and she was weighing up her options before deciding to bring it back after the school holidays.

"All term it was hard, mainly just getting the lunches to people who wanted them delivered. I had the odd volunteer help out but I couldn't find anybody that could help out regularly.

"Then in the last week I got really sick and was unable to do the lunches which angered a lot of people and they started getting really nasty on Facebook."

Ms Johnston said she planned to hold a meeting at 1.30pm tomorrow at Linton Park Community Centre to see if she could rally some regular volunteers to help out making and distributing the lunches.

"I would love to continue making the lunches because it's my baby and there are so many families that stand to benefit from it, but I need regular help ."