Waka of Caring owner Debbie Monroe with a Manurewa resident. Photo / Waimanea Nuri
An additional $6 million in funding will be allocated to community organisations nationwide, supporting their efforts in providing food assistance to individuals and families facing high living costs.
But from the point of view of Waka of Caring, a South Auckland food bank and drop-in centre serving 200 daily food parcels to the Manurewa community, this initiative although vital isn't enough.
Waka of Caring owner Debbie Monroe says the government's emphasis on providing $6 million to those working in high-demand regions falls short of what is truly needed.
“Just bluntly, no, that is not enough money to help the number of whānau throughout New Zealand to survive,” Monroe says. "Being able to give them more kai is good but that's not going to last very long."
She says that although the funding is better than nothing, it is just not enough to sustain the communities around Aotearoa.
“I'll be honest, you go and do a $5000 kai shop and that would probably last only two weeks because we feed 200 whānau per day, that's a thousand families every week, so that would last us probably six months, to be honest with kai, purely just kai”.
“But we have people bringing in two tins of tined food, and that will help us feed the whānau. It doesn't need to be big, it doesn't need to be small, its the aroha that people give, it's about what you can do because every single little bit helps us in some way”.
During a recent press conference, Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni expressed her appreciation for the exceptional work carried out by all community food providers.
Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni Source / RNZ
“Demand for food support, particularly in communities impacted by extreme weather events, remains higher than it was prior to Covid-19, so this boost in funding aims to help community food providers continue their mahi during this period of high demand.
She says that despite working through testing times, food banks and community providers are still passionate, committed to the kaupapa and are pushing for better outcomes.
Monroe says providing for communities is a joint mahi and a joint kaupapa of aroha with the whole of Aotearoa.
She argues that to effectively meet the needs of communities, it is imperative to reform and modify the government system.
“Get rid of the pencil pushes and put real people into the government, because they really need to listen to the people, instead of having a round table full of know it all’s.
“Bring in real people who sit in at these meetings and let them say ‘yes this will work, no that won’t work’, i'm a big believer of having open conversations with the people that need it the most”.
The $6 million will be available for community food providers across New Zealand but priority will be given to those working in high-demand regions such as Auckland, Tai Rāwhiti and Hawke's Bay.