Foodbank flooded with offers
People have rallied around a Taranaki foodbank which was ransacked in a break-in, with offers of help coming in from as far away as South Africa.
Waitara Foodbank volunteers were horrified to find a broken window and a hole in a door on Tuesday afternoon.
‘‘They just ransacked the place,’’ Kath Jones, Foodbank New Zealand chair and Waitara Foodbank administrator, said.
‘‘They went into the freezer and grabbed the chicken and the pâtés and they left the freezer door open so all the stuff got soggy.’’
The Waitara Foodbank, which is run out of the Red Cross St John’s Ambulance Hall off Quay St, had been broken into some time between 1pm Monday and noon Tuesday.
‘‘They went into the freezer and grabbed the chicken and the pâtés and they left the freezer door open so all the stuff got soggy.’’ Kath Jones
Soaps had been pulled from cupboards and a tablecloth has also gone missing. Jones believed it was used to wrap up the stolen goodies.
‘‘And the stuff they didn’t want, they just left on the floor and out the back door they went,’’ she said.
Jones suspects the culprit had visited the site before because only the room with the food was broken into.
And she was furious with the selfish act.
‘‘My first thought was ‘close’ because I was so angry, but I knew there were people who needed parcels and I can’t let them be affected because of one person.
‘‘This was set up 25 years ago as an interim and we’re still going, so there’s a definite need out here.’’
When people of Waitara heard of the theft, loads of goods came through the door, Jones said.
She said the Waitara Lions Club had also stepped up to assist with repairs, which would be to install a new window and door.
‘‘People are really angry about what happened.’’
The news even reached across the seas and touched the heart of a stranger, Foodbank NZ trustee Craig Stevenson said.
‘‘I received an email from a woman in South Africa who heard about the breakin and wanted to donate food.’’