The Whanganui Kai Hub (the Kai Hub) has been creating a sustainable kai system in Whanganui through food rescue, food redistribution, community engagement & building relationships with local organisations since 2022. The Whanganui Kai Hub, a remarkable food rescue organization that has been tirelessly working towards reducing food waste and ensuring no one in our community goes hungry.

The Whanganui Kai Hub rescues, sorts, and distributes quality surplus food 5 days a week with the help of their 7 strong volunteer network in the Whanganui region.

Since operations began, the Kai Hub has rescued and re-distributed over an astounding 124,000 kgs of surplus food, which equates to more than 275,000 meals worth[i] of kai getting to people via our network of 21 local, hard-working, community groups and 5 pātaka in Whanganui. The Kai Hub, like many other food rescue organisations across Aotearoa, has been running from funding support through community and government grants. This funding model is not sustainable, especially in the current financial climate. For the Kai Hub to keep supporting the community, we are seeking to establish sustainable funding, primarily in the form of monthly donations from our community, especially businesses. This will allow us to start planning into the future, focusing on doing the mahi, and ensuring that we can continue this important work.

Each week we divert over a ton of donated kai from ending up in landfill. Our staff and volunteers collect, sort, and then distribute the rescued kai to 21 local organisations who then distribute to the community. Using 450g as the weight of an average meal, this means every week over 2200 meals worth of food is given to those who can use it. We estimate that about 400 to 500 people access these meals every day.

“We are immensely proud of our achievements thus far, having successfully rescued over 124,000 kilograms of food. To put this into perspective, it is equivalent to saving the same weight as 23 elephants[ii]. These rescued food items have been redistributed to individuals and families facing food insecurity, providing them with nourishment and relief during challenging times.” Whanganui Kai Hub Chair, Dr. Rose Soame

On March 18, 2025 the Kai Hub issued a call to action, for support, to Whanganui. Without the support of the local community and businesses, the Whanganui Kai Hub will

need to close its doors in May 2025. The goal is to get 1% of Whanganui, 470 people giving a monthly donation of $10, and 8 - 10 business sponsors, by May 1, 2025 to support the Kai Hub.

Soame states “We firmly believe that collaboration between local businesses, community organizations, and individuals is vital for effecting meaningful change. By supporting the Whanganui Kai Hub, you will play an instrumental role in combating food waste, reducing hunger, and building a more sustainable and equitable future for all.”

Whanganui Kai Hub by the numbers – since 2022:

124,000+ KG of good quality surplus food rescued from being needlessly wasted 275,000+ meals worth of good kai re-distributed to people in need 372,130 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions stopped from entering the atmosphere, as food is diverted from going to rot in landfill

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