This article was first published by RNZ.
On the main drag of Taumarunui, Trunk Coffee House not only serves a cup of java, but shares a lot of kindness.
The man behind it is Rhys Eden Delamere, who purchased the old Trunk FM coffee house building and touched it up with his charisma.
“I’m very dramatic, but I’m human,” he said.
From small-town Murupara to a 10-year stint in Australia, he returned to New Zealand for a holiday when he met his partner Glen and never left.
“He pretty much chased me, then we bought a house, then the business, yeah... that’s how I ended up in little ol’ Taumarunui, and I love it.”
Now at 33, he is using his coffee house as the vehicle to spread aroha.
“I wanna be like my parents. They have three businesses, they work hard, I want to be able to provide for me and my partner by myself,” he said.
The compassion he gives came from his nana
“One thing my mum and nana would say [was] ‘be kind always’, so I’m out there spreading kindness.”
He credits his Nan Rev Libya Heke-Huata, who passed away four years ago. Her death was hard for him to fathom.
To fill the void, he finds solace in helping kaumātua in his community.
“She had done what I’m doing now, so I’m following right in her footsteps.”
Like a hook, line, and sinker, he reels kaumātua in to his Trunk Coffee House with an offer of a free cup of coffee or tea, or he takes food to their houses.
On the one-year anniversary of his business, he hosted a free kaumātua lunch
“I’ve got a lot of love for the kaumātua people, not just from Taumarunui, but for the whole of Aotearoa.”
Now he has a new mission to travel the country from top to bottom to give food out to kaumātua, but he needs to raise about $100,000 to make this happen.
“I’m just going to give it a go, and I won’t stop until I get there.”
He is hoping when the time comes, hunters and divers will jump on the kaupapa as there is a lot of kaimoana on the menu.
Cream paua, smoked muscles, kina, oysters, whitebait fritters, and club sandwiches is what he intends to whip up.
“I’ll be telling my boyfriend to get in the car, we’re going on the road trip of our lives to feed all these old people right around Aotearoa.”
- RNZ
