Solve hunger, solve crime
At night, while Matamata sleeps, Kory Turner and dog Nola are walking the quiet, abandoned streets.
Turner has a familiarity with the streets. The busy Tauranga streets were home to him and Nola after Turner suffered a relationship breakdown.
‘‘We lived in an underground carpark for three years. There were about 20 of us.
‘‘We played guitars and sang. We had nowhere to live, but we enjoyed ourselves.’’
Every week volunteers from local churches would supply the homeless with food.
‘‘The volunteers felt for us, we really roughed it. Once a week, we would get a meal.’’
It was through this experience that Turner met Liz Kite, who started the Tauranga charity group Under the Stars.
For 18 months now they have been feeding 60 to 80 of Tauranga’s homeless and Turner was once among them.
Now, he calls Matamata his home, where he has family connections.
He says he wants to turn his life around and start giving back.
He wants to start with the youth of Matamata - with whom he has become familiar over the last few months.
‘‘I am trying to change my life around, be a good person, be an active member of the community.
‘‘I just like to do good things for people.’’
He would love to see a weekly community feed started in Matamata, aimed at the youth, but for anyone to enjoy.
He says the skate park would be a great location, it’s easy to find and where most of the youth congregate.
He says it could be as simple as a sausage sizzle or a pot of soup and some tea, milo and coffee.
‘‘Sometimes the youth hanging around town are hungry and when they get like that, they cause damage. It gives the kids something to do, they can come to the skatepark and they know they are gonna get a meal, hopefully they won’t be causing trouble.’’
However, he is not in a position to start it or run it due to health problems and wants to put the idea to the community.
He is hoping a few businesses or churches may help run and fund it. He says there are so many eateries in town that have left overs which could be donated and really make it a community effort.
‘‘I know it’s a good idea, but I can’t do it on my own, I want to see it happen - it needs to happen.
‘‘There are people who are struggling, and this means once a week they will have a meal they don’t have to provide.
‘‘I don’t know if there is anywhere people can go to get a meal.’’