October 20, 2023
Food bank network asks donors to pitch in
An organisation which supplies food banks says it’s concerned at the number of new whanau turning up for help.
New Zealand Food Network chief executive Gavin Findlay says a survey of 51 of its 64 recipient food hubs found a 20 percent increase in demand for food support in the six months to June compared to the previous six months.
He says seeing whānau who have never needed,to reach out for food support before has been harrowing.
“To go and ask your local organisation for support and put food on your table must be really, you know, a hard thing to do, if it’s not something that you really used to doing it. So that was one of the things that came through from them that, you know, the people themselves really don’t want to have to do this, but they’re in a position where they have to,” he says.
With support from former All Black Piri Weepu, comedian Lee Hart, special Olympian Grace Payne and Moana Pasifika player Sam Slade, the Food Network has created a ‘Pitch In’ campaign to encourage people to donate money as a virtual player and see how many times in a year they can fill Eden Park with meals and essential items