Kaibosh Food Rescue is asking people to Give a Meal in May, Haratua Takoha Kai, to help them get 100,000 meals to people who need it most this month. Every $20 donated helps Kaibosh provide 40 meals worth of good kai to the community.
"Getting involved with Give a Meal in May is a great way for people to support others in our local communities. You'll be helping us get a lot of good kai to whānau who are doing it tough right now," said Matt Dagger, CEO at Kaibosh Food Rescue.
Kaibosh supplies food to more than 140 charities and community groups in the Greater Wellington Region. The food rescue charity's community partners report increased need as more people struggle with living costs.
"We know that more people need support to access good nutritious food each day," said Ben Wakefield, General Manager at Kaibosh.
Raewin Tipene-Clark from the Strathmore Park Community Charitable Trust shared that Kaibosh was about food and manaakitanga.
"The way that we care for people in our community, the way that we share the love of this place, this environment, and the way that we engage with them as individuals and being able to provide a listening ear," said Tipene-Clark.
Irihāpeti Hokianga Te Aho, from the Strathmore Park Community Centers, added that with Kaibosh's support, Community Centers were able to reach out and connect with people and make sure that a family has food for one or two days, sometimes even longer.
Daisy and Irihapeti
Recent research by the New Zealand Food Network shows that since 2020 there has been a 165 percent increase in the number of people across Aotearoa receiving food support from food banks, food rescue and food network hubs. The top reason people request support is the cost-of-living crisis (88 percent).
Over 70 percent of what Kaibosh provided to the community was fresh produce, dairy, meat, eggs, food that is often not accessible for people struggling with the rising living costs, allowing the foodbank to be able to get this good healthy food to people who need it most, thanks to generous food donors.
Ōrongomai Marae collects food twice a week from the Kaibosh Hutt Valley hub in Petone to distribute from its Marae kaibank in Maidstone, Upper Hutt. Ōrongomai Marae regularly supports more than 40 families with kai parcels, alongside the whānau and health services they offer in Upper Hutt.
Dominique
Dominique, from Ōrongomai, said they'd had a relationship with Kaibosh for ten years, but in the past few years, more local whānau needed support with access to kai due to challenges of the three years of the pandemic and rising costs of living.
Kaibosh supplies good quality rescued food to various recipient organisations, from soup kitchens to food banks, Marae-based whānau support, transitional housing services, afterschool clubs and youth development programmes. Kaibosh provides its food rescue service at no cost to partner charities, which enables those organisations to use resources for specialist social services instead of purchasing food.
Geetha and Manjit Grewal
"The support we get from Kaibosh helps us to get to the vulnerable in our community", said Manjit Grewal from Ekta NZ, who offers food assistance for ethnic communities in Wellington.
Grewal continued that outreach was important. As Wellington has grown, there have been more people in need, and Ekta can help families and those in need access some food for the week.
Donations made to Kaibosh go straight to helping the food rescue charity with its daily operating costs.
"Every dollar counts. It helps keep our food rescue vans on the road and our three sites running, so our team can keep sourcing good kai before it's wasted," explained Wakefield.
On average, Kaibosh Rescue distributes 70,000kg of quality surplus food every month, diverting good kai from being needlessly wasted. They operate from three hubs in Wellington City, Hutt Valley and Kāpiti-Horowhenua and offer their food rescue service at no cost to their partner charities and food donors.
