Rescued Food Feeds Tai Tokerau

Janey Pares Edney
12 minutes ago
2 min read

Whangārei March Green Drinks was incredibly fortunate to be hosted by Whakaora Kai Food Rescue Northland. Whangārei is the distribution hub for Food Rescue in Tai Tokerau, donating kai to more than 80 charitable and social service groups who pass it on to those in need.

With only three paid employees they process 20 tons of food every month, so volunteers are one of the essential ingredients to make this possible. All their funding comes from grants and donations – which requires constant funding applications. Contact Energy generously sponsor the power.

One of the impressive things about Whakaora Kai is their dedication to waste minimisation. Putting out only 1 black bin liner every 3 weeks they carefully process every bit of packaging for maximum recycling.

Alongside the warehouse on Woods Road is a Social Supermarket. Sixtyfive ‘slots’ are available each day for referrals to ‘shop’. Every item is coded with points and depending on the circumstances of the ‘shopper’ they are allocated a certain number of points to spend, with the average ‘shop’ around $170.

Whangārei is also fortunate to have a Community Cafe on Cameron Street serving delicious free of charge ‘rescued’ food 6 days a week.

All these services are found under the parent organisation, Whare Āwhina.

How you can help: