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This image, left, of empty shelves at the foodbank this Christmas motivated the community. After the story ran in Hibiscus Matters, the shelves soon looked like this, right, with all the other shelves also full and the contents overflowing onto the floor.
The Hibiscus Coast community has come to the aid of two local foodbanks in a big way after a story about their low supplies at Christmas ran in Hibiscus Matters’ December 2 edition.
Donations of food were urgently needed to stock the Hibiscus Coast Community House foodbank in Orewa, and the smaller one operated by Orewa Baptist Church. With Christmas approaching, both faced their busiest time of year with dwindling supplies to offer to local families in need.
Community House manager Christine Alesbury says the response has been overwhelming with people walking in with bags of groceries and cash.
“We’ve been inundated with food and cash donations,” she says. “I think this could turn out to be our best Christmas ever. What’s especially appreciated is that people have taken note of the specific things we needed and brought those in. I’d like to thank Hibiscus Matters and everyone who has helped.”
One of the most generous offers was from Illuminate Church, based at Kingsway School, which raised $2000 to purchase groceries for the foodbank.
Members and ministers of other churches brought in carloads of donated goods and Maygrove Village put together a trolley full of food.
The foodbank donation box at New World Orewa was soon full to overflowing and many people came into the Community House in Western Reserve to drop off bags of donated items.
Christine says she and the staff have spent hours unpacking and shelving everything and are now in a position to help other agencies, such as the Salt Trust that runs the free Christmas Day lunch, and Orewa Baptist Church.
Pastor Paul Collins of Orewa Baptist Church says that food has been coming in steadily ever since the article ran and a local business person who read the article immediately donated $1000 to the church’s foodbank.
“The people around here are pretty special,” Pastor Collins says.
