Kai pantry has new home after vandalism
‘‘Apart from it getting a bit damaged it’s doing really well.’’ Karen Lende, Kai and Aroha Taranaki
A New Plymouth kai pantry offering free food to the needy is being moved to a new location after vandalism.
The kai pantry, a shelving unit on which people can put their excess food to help others, was set up two weeks ago in the New Plymouth suburb of Marfell.
But after incidents of the food being tipped out and destroyed the pantry is being moved to 27 Cook St, where it will stand outside a resident’s home so it can be monitored.
Karen Lende, of community group Kai and Aroha Taranaki, which runs the pantry, said: ‘‘People need to learn the process of it.
‘‘Apart from it getting a bit damaged it’s doing really well.’’
All donations to the pantry are accepted as long as they are edible and volunteers check daily to make sure food isn’t perishing.
People can donate by simply walking up to the community pantry and putting food items, such as excess fruit and vegetables, bread, canned food and even pre-made meals, on to the shelves.
Lende has set up another community kai pantry in Bell Block, which has been a success, and says another half dozen are being set up around the region.
A Marfell Community coordinator, who goes by the single name of Kuvarji, helped to organise the pantry in Marfell.
‘‘For here it’s an actual need,’’ she said. ‘‘There are a lot of people that don’t reach out and those are the people we want to reach.’’
Janet Wilson, principal of Marfell Community School, said the kai pantry complemented the work the school did with its children. The school runs a breakfast club every weekday morning to feed pupils and caregivers before lessons begin.