Generosity in the face of Covid-19
When Rohit Vaddem found out people had no money to put food on the table due to Covid-19, he struggled to sleep at night.
He began thinking about what he could do to help and as the owner of Belt Rd Supermarket in New Plymouth Vaddem landed on giving the essentials to those that need it.
Vaddem took to Facebook to announce his plan, urging people not to go to sleep with an empty stomach.
‘‘Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to send us a private message or text,’’ his post said.
‘‘I will be more than happy to share whatever I have. Even just a loaf of bread or milk.’’
Vaddem said people had told him of their circumstances of losing their jobs to Covid-19 or running out of money and food and he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
If people are in need of essentials such as bread and milk they can call him, text him, or come into the store and talk directly.
The response had been overwhelming with hundreds of people messaging to say thank you, sometimes just for being open, Vaddem said.
People had been coming to take him up on his offer, but not many, mainly just surrounding neighbours in need.
‘‘Some people will ask for something else but I just say ‘those are not the essentials, sorry’.’’
Over the past few weeks Vaddem said he’d had customers come from
Waitara and Opunake to get flour and yeast because they couldn’t find them at the bigger supermarkets.
‘‘We’ve sold about a tonne of flour and about 10 kilos of yeast.’’
Vaddem said sales had dropped by 50 per cent during lockdown but he wasn’t moaning about it.
‘‘People are doing what they need to do. They need to stay at home and that’s the main thing.
‘‘Even if we are half the sales it’s all right.’’