Cupboards bare in virus lockdown
A mum used to living off a meal a day says a parcel of food delivered halfway during lockdown will make an ‘‘incredible’’ difference to her family.
The 34-year-old, from Manawatu¯ , has five children aged 4 to 13, and feeding them all out of the solo parent benefit was always a struggle. After years of domestic violence, she said she was getting her life back on track but lockdown had put on hold plans to start her own business.
Lockdown has made it even harder to feed her family, without the breakfasts and lunches available at school through programmes such as KidsCan.
She had been trying to make food stretch as far as possible: lots of toast and a cereal, a whole chicken that could be eked out over a few meals.
‘‘I was only eating dinners to help,’’ she said.
‘‘As long as they’re eating I can survive on a piece of toast or eat their leftovers.’’
The one non-negotiable was all sitting down together to eat dinner at the end of the day.
She said she didn’t make a ‘‘big deal’’ of breakfast or lunch in the
hope her children wouldn’t notice she wasn’t eating,
‘‘They don’t need to worry about that.’’
But the constant stress and worry about food got to her: ‘‘There’s been many tearful nights.
‘‘I feel like I’m failing them because there’s not enough food in the house.’’
The food from KidsCan delivered last week would mean she could eat breakfast and lunch with her kids, she said.
The parcel included pasta, rice, canned food and baked beans, and she said it would last her family at least a couple of weeks, taking the stress out of the remaining time in lockdown.
About 3000 parcels have been delivered to families in need.
Another mum who’s on the list for a food parcel said she had struggled to stock her cupboards during lockdown.
The past weeks have been ‘‘absolutely terrible,’’ she said.
Her daughters, aged 9 and 12, are eating more while at home, and they also used to get food at school.
To donate to the KidsCan appeal to feed families during lockdown, visit 19for19.co.nz