Helping hand for those in need during lockdown

20 Sep, 2021

JULIA WADE

As Alert Level 4 settled across the country bringing with it the now all-too-familiar travel restrictions and limitations to work, shop and play, locals showed their kindness and generosity gifting food and goods to a dedicated social organisation to help those who find lockdown especially tough.

Te Whai Community Trust members have been busy collecting, sorting, packing and delivering Aroha Baskets to local families and seniors over the recent lockdown, gifting five times more baskets than normal ‘and keeping our food coordinator very busy’, Te Whai projects manager Kiri Eriwata says.

“The support from the community has been amazing! We know it's hard feeding whanau in these strange times, it’s not just a case of people unable to get to supermarkets, but for many they have lost work and cannot pay their bills,” she says.

“To all the generous locals and businesses who have donated food, time and their own funds, thank you so much, I just want to acknowledge everyone’s kindness.”

Te Whai’s Aroha Baskets contain a wide range of gifted goods including freshly picked vegetables from the Mangawhai Community Garden, frozen packs of sausages, mince and chicken from Four Square Mangawhai Heads, free bottles of Essence Hand Sanitiser from a local man named ‘Brett’, toilet paper gifted by local company Confident Care NZ, and excess fruit given freely by locals for locals.

Produce and food parcels have also been donated by SOS Kaipara and 155 Food Rescue Northland, who collect and distribute food from all over Te Taitokerau, which extends from Cape Reinga to the southern borders of Auckland’s North Shore, and the team from Mangawhai Community Response Group have been delivering groceries to the areas senior residents.

“We’ve had some lovely donations from anonymous people too, which doesn’t go unnoticed. We’d like to thank those locals for their generosity.”

Mangawhai community also dug deep and donated a range of items through Te Whai, after a fire raged through a family’s kitchen on Staniforth Road during the recent lockdown.

Eriwata says members of Te Whai are extremely grateful for all the individuals and organisations ‘who have come on board and contributed’ and she especially wanted to acknowledge a ‘huge appreciation’ to the owners of Confident Care NZ, Michelle Dawn Jago and Paul Rae.

“They buy all the grocery items on behalf of Te Whai as well as volunteer their time to arrange and pack all our Aroha Baskets each week. They also donate cartons of toilet paper each month for our baskets and we all know in these times that is gold!” she says.

“When many businesses are feeling anxious about the future, we truely appreciate those that continue to give. A big thanks to all the amazing donors for our Aroha Baskets. We put the word out and have been generously supplied.”

Helping hand
Locals also supported each other by generously donating $50 vouchers for nominated people to use at Mangawhai Heads Four Square.

Local couple Shaz and Dale Austin initiated the coupon drive with three tickets and the number soon grew once word got around, including eight vouchers gifted by Four Square owners Hannah Millow and Hamish Townsend.

In the end, 18 Mangawhai families received $50, a helping hand through the hard times of lockdown from the kindness of their community.

‘Feel the love’.
 

Members of Mangawhai Community Garden load up bags full of freshly picked vegetables. PHOTO/SUPPLIED