On The House is on the move
Rebekah Bell’s baby has grown up fast and is now ready to leave the nest and start paying its own way.
For two years Bell’s brainchild – On The House – has been collecting surplus food from organisations around New Plymouth then distributing to the city’s hungry and those in need for free.
The venture has grown so much it now has around 40 suppliers, about 35 volunteers and is providing more than 90 individuals and families with weekly food parcels.
The continued expansion has seen it outgrow its current base – which now requires Bell to find new premises and employ a paid co-ordinator to keep things running smoothly.
The organisation was also waiting on its charitable trust status to be finalised.
‘‘We are bursting at the seams in terms of expansion and we are ready to, in terms of getting more funding.
‘‘It’s just about natural growth and expansion and we always knew it could get to this point. We are out of the toddler stage and we are way into the teenager stage.’’
Bell said the co-ordinator would need to be a people person and while they were willing to consider any venue she would like one with a kitchen.
‘‘Someone who can keep a smile on their dial while managing quite a few different balls in the air. It doesn’t have to be flash, we are happy to share with someone else as well because at the moment we are still one day a week.’’
She said, in the future, the trust would also increase the number of days it’s open but they didn’t want to rush the process.
‘‘We bed things in and when that’s solid we move on to the next phase because we are really big on sustainability.’’
Bell, who owns Alchemy Yoga & Wellbeing, said she was extremely grateful to everyone who had supported them during the last two years and believed its growing pains would be resolved next year.
‘‘I’ve real faith that this is just a speed hump.’’
On The House’s last day for
2019 will be Thursday, December
19, from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.