Community pantry preparing to reopen
Among hundreds of boxes of food stacked to the ceiling in a backroom at Foxton School is a group of volunteers preparing to feed struggling families again.
Founder of Te Awahou Kai, Foxton’s free food store, Linda Lake has been spending her days organising the shop in preparation for its reopening after lockdown.
About five volunteers are stacking, organising and counting products with a plan to open the store in a fewweeks.
Even with the store closed, Lake was helping thosewho needed it during level 2.
She filled bags of food for people to pick up contactlessly and was helping people with errands when theywere unwell or unable to leave the house.
‘‘It’s just what we do. If you walked in off the street, we’d sort it we i no make it work.’’
One classroom holds the hundreds of boxes, three freezers and three fridges full of food for people to collect, for free.
Lake said there was no stigma attached to accessing the food, with no eligibility criteria and no names necessary. People just needed to supply a phone number.
The store received no funding, but therewas a koha bucket at the door for small donations.
Like a small dairy, people picked up a basket and perused the shelves, picking out what they wanted.
Some people would leave with 50 to 60 items.
Before lockdown, the store was open on Mondays and Thursdays, and about 30 to 40 people made their way through the shop each day.
Food was also donated to charities and places that needed it, including local schools, kindergartens, marae and community pantries. Products were donated by people and organisations, including Just Zilch, Mad Butcher, $2 Shop, Foxton New World and Turks. As well as Foxton, the store also helped families Otaki, Wellington, Dannevirke and Woodville. ‘‘Unity in the community, that’s what I stand for,’’ Lake said. People can donate to bank account 02-0727-0543305-034.