Shelter and food security are key areas of Wellington City Council’s welfare response, and its team has mobilised since lockdown to offer its support, PPE equipment and advice wherever it can, says Community Services Manager Jenny Rains.
“Food provision in particular became critical as the Capital went into lockdown, so we have been supporting numerous charities and organisations to ensure this basic requirement was available for those who needed it.
“This week our team has been coordinating the delivery of fresh produce to a number of food providers from one of our local producers in Levin, who usually supplies the Waterfront Farmers Market.
“This delivery has been particularly important as, with many grocery and supermarket retailers having low supply due to retail pressure and panic-buying, there hasn’t been as much to donate to them and redistribute into the community.”
Kaibosh provides food to soup kitchens, marae, foodbanks, residential facilities like Council’s City Housing, and other essential social service providers, and while supply is lower than usual, demand is still very high, says General Manager Matt Dagger.
“Like last year, this has been a challenging time for us and the other organisations we work with. In the fortnight since lockdown, we provided 15,874 kilos of food to 59 different groups, equating to almost 45,500 meals.
“But thanks to support from groups like Wellington City Council and New Zealand Food Network, our skeleton team has been able to provide food to our community – but food and financial donations are always welcome!”
The Compassion Soup Kitchen has also been busy providing takeaway meals and hot chocolate to its whānau at record breaking numbers according to Compassion Soup Kitchen Manager, Gary Sutton.
“At Level 3 we will continue producing and packaging 220 takeaway meals every day, including Sunday, which is probably the highest number of meals the Soup Kitchen has produced on a sustained basis in its 120 years history.
“This is truly an incredible feat for such a small team under lockdown conditions – but truly, there is no need for anyone to go hungry at this time.”
The Compassion Soup Kitchen launched its Annual Appeal this week, which will be 100 percent online this year.
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Financial and food donations are a great way to help feed others in need. You can donate online via bank transfer at: