Food Insecurity – Answering The Need

Friday, 19 July 2024, 9:03 am
Press Release: Visionwest

Just over a year ago, Visionwest opened Manaaki Kai, the first social supermarket of its kind in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. In this first year, 2,455 shoppers have passed through, feeding almost 8,000 people. At the same time, the emergency food parcel service at Visionwest has continued to supply over 240 parcels per week.

These figures are a sobering reminder that the food insecurity challenge for many New Zealanders is a day-to-day reality. For some of these people, the struggle to put food on the table is a new experience as they deal with sharp rises in the cost-of-living and the need to make choices about what to spend their limited income on. Alongside a rise in the overall number of those requiring food support, Visionwest has noticed a marked rise in the number of both the elderly and working families accessing its food support services.

The arrival of winter has seen an added increase in demand as people look for help with food to offset the extra costs of heating and other expenses that are higher over the colder months.

The story of Jade* and her whānau is similar to many accessing food support from Visionwest. Jade’s partner works fulltime and signs on for overtime hours when they are offered but still, they find juggling their finances to be a struggle.

This winter, they have saved money by turning the heating on for only an hour a day, between 5:30 and 6:30pm. Once their two children are in bed, the heating goes off and they sit under blankets in the lounge.

By providing food to families like Jade’s, Visionwest and other food support services enable these families to free up money for the purchase of extra blankets, or to cover a higher electricity bill and pay for other winter expenses.

In order to continue to help families like Jade’s get through winter, many food support groups hold winter fundraising appeals. Visionwest are soon to hold their third annual Giving Day. For 24 hours from 10 am on Tuesday 30 July, any donation made on www.givingday.org.nz will be doubled thanks to Foodstuffs North Island and other supporters.

Every dollar given to Giving Day will go towards turning hunger into hope by providing food for those who might otherwise go without.

© Scoop Media

Visionwest

Visionwest provides wraparound support services to the most vulnerable in our communities to achieve our vision of transformed lives and healthy communities.

Visionwest is one of New Zealand leading care providers, offering housing, food support, budgeting, home healthcare, youth training and employment, counselling, and early learning and care to West Auckland communities; home healthcare throughout Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua Lakes; and housing in Canterbury/Christchurch.

Contact Visionwest

• Website - www.visionwest.org.nz
• Email - communications@visionwest.org.nz
• Phone - 09 818 0700