North Shore Winter Food Drive

13 Sept

When we work to stay connected to one another, good things can flow from that. This story is an example of this.

In conversations with various Christian leaders on the North Shore, our awareness grew concerning the ongoing problem of food insecurity, and a network that had come together to address it. Through a conversation (that led to a podcast episode!) with Sophie Gray of Good Works Trust, Dale connected with Natasha Geo of Takapuna Community Trust, who chairs the Food Insecurity Network on the North Shore: a wide-ranging group encompassing social organisations, food banks, local government, and churches. He joined the network and was inspired by the simple way they collaborate, share information, problems and possible solutions with one another.

Working with Natasha, Sophie and others like Rochelle from Salvation Army, Albany/Bays, we designed the North Shore Winter Food Drive. We knew this would not be a ‘solution’ to food insecurity, but just a simple opportunity to a) raise awareness about food insecurity in our neighbourhoods and b) provide at least some level of on the ground assistance to the organisations already hard at work to address this challenge. The timing was also relevant. In the midst of the colder, harder, winter months, Angela from Kiwi Harvest (a wonderful organisation rescuing and redistributing food before it gets wasted) reported that the North Shore currently had the largest ever number of beneficiaries: 19,700

The concept was simple. Churches and organisations across the shore could help with Promotion, Collection and Distribution.

Churches and community organisations ranging from Albany to Northcote signed up as collection centres. Others, such as Shore Community Church, organised their own collections.
Angela and Chrysty from Kiwi Harvest were amazing in their hard work transporting goods from collection centres like those at Business North Harbour or the Rawene Centre / Birkenhead Community Church, taking them to support the work of hard working organisations and communities like De Paul House in Northcote or Te Awataha Marae.

We are considering running the Food Drive again in 2025. We are also very aware that food insecurity is an issue across the city, so if you are interested in collaborating in a similar way in your area please do reach out.

Here are a few photos from this year’s Drive. Heartfelt thanks to all who helped out!