Need for food on the table keeps growing
Foodbank hands out record number of parcels as effect of lockdown bites
Tauranga Community Foodbank has handed out a record amount of food in the past few weeks, with people’s finances drained to stay afloat during lockdown.
From incomes falling or job losses to bills piling up and hungry children not benefiting from free school lunches, the need for help to put food on the table is growing — with many needing help for the first time.
Socialink, the umbrella organisation for the Western Bay’s social agencies and charities, surveyed social service providers and found food was the key issue in lockdown.
Tauranga Community Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin said savings used in lockdown last year to get by were gone, and those who had been budgeting “extremely well” were getting behind on their bills.
She said the speed at which demand hit was “surprising”, with a record 402 food parcels distributed between the first Thursday of lockdown and last Friday, helping 1314 people.
The foodbank also delivered 98 parcels during this time.
This was 75 per cent more than the same period of lockdown last year, with the parcels containing 5256 days worth of food, which would create at least 15,768 meals.
While the move to levels 3 and 2 had settled the demand, with many able to go back to work, there is still “a lot of hardship”.
“People haven’t got the [financial] resilience they had last time, and neither do businesses, so it’s pretty much an immediate effect as soon as income is jeopardised.”
She said many of those needing help were families they had not seen before, with kids not getting the lunches at schools on top of them eating more being at home.
However, although some were back at work, it was still another week until they got paid, and the second earner might still not be back for weeks.
Goodwin suspected the hardship would continue as people worked to get back on top of their bills.
Foodbank parcels were originally designed to feed a person or family for four days, however the parcels being created were now designed to last a week.
The foodbank had been moving towards these larger parcels prior to lockdown due to the rising cost of living.
She said they’ve needed to buy a huge amount of staples and their supply was good, and she thanked the support of the community in both donated goods as well as money.
She said fresh produce and meat were always needed and treats were always welcomed as the nonessential goods were not budgeted for but brightened up the days of parcel recipients.
Good Neighbour, a local food rescue service that supports 72 charities and organisations, had seen the demand for food constantly on the rise since lockdown last year.
Manager Simone Gibson said lockdown had the number of services it supported drop to 55 and many, which Good Neighbour supported part of, were now asked to support a larger portion of an organisation.
The usual two tonnes of food collected and redistributed initially dropped when the city went into lockdown and businesses shut or stocked up, but had since picked up.
She said the amount of food they collected each day depended on
People aren’t asking for luxuries, they’re asking for the necessities. Good Neighbour manager Simone Gibson
Tauranga food rescue Good Neighbour.