Pokere Paewai, Māori issues reporter for RNZ
It has been a tough year for foodbanks with more people in financial hardship and funding hard to come by.
But one foodbank in Porirua, run by Wellington iwi Ngāti Toa, says collaboration and connection are what helped it survive a tough year to keep feeding the community.
Te Umu Ki Rangituhi is working through one of its busiest weeks in the lead-up to Christmas.
Team lead Matt Feliuai said the three services that made up the foodbank delivered kai to more than 5000 whānau from Tawa to Pukerua Bay.
“We run three different services under Te Umu Ki Rangituhi, so we have our social supermarket side, we’ve got our Pātaka kai side which is free kai parcels out to the whānau, we’ve also got food rescue.”
The lead-up to Christmas was the busiest time of year as whānau felt the pressure to put good kai on the table, Feliuai said.
November was one of the foodbank’s busiest, delivering more than 250 kai packs, and this month it would exceed that, he said.
“It is getting harder and harder to survive out there, for example with essentials like fuel, with kai, with little things like that.
“This time of year is really hard for our whānau so we’re trying to do all that we can to support them as well.”
Service manager Naomi Siania said the foodbank had the chance to expand this year with the addition of the social supermarket. The foodbank and food rescue have been up and running for three years, beginning with three kuia delivering kai in a van.
At the social supermarket, whānau were referred by social services or by internal services like Ngāti Toa. They could use it up to three times a year. There was a points system and a small contribution to keep the supermarket sustainable.
About 70 percent of its customers were Māori, 20 percent were Pasifika and the rest were either Pākehā or from other communities, Siania said.
“With the climate that’s happening now, the economic climate, a lot of whānau can’t afford the rent because of the high cost of living.
“A lot of our whānau have lost their jobs due to working for the public sector or businesses have closed down so it’s really hit home.”
Siania said the charity was part of a foodbank collective and she has seen many of those foodbanks struggle to keep the doors open every day of the week.
Support from the community and iwi were what kept the doors of Te Umu Ki Rangituhi open every week day, she said.
“With our connections in the community, in the wider community of Porirua, because we are iwi led we are more connected and that’s where our strength comes from, it’s empowering.”
