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Jan 08, 2024

New Plymouth foodbank left in the cold as they save money for new home base

A 12-month lease extension has saved the New Plymouth’s Community Foodbank from

A 12-month lease extension has saved the New Plymouth's Community Foodbank from homelessness but its efforts to raise funds for a new base mean volunteers are donning coats and sometimes gloves for their shifts.

"We're not paying for the heating," manager Sharon Wills said on Wednesday.

So volunteers have to wrap up warm against the winter cold and work hard to stay warm because the heat pump is off, she said.

They have to keep the area cold, or the freezer works harder and it costs more.

"We can't run the heating because if we do the freezer can't work. It's a cost-cutting exercise because if it gets too warm the freezer overheats and costs more to run. It's a balancing act."

READ MORE: * New Plymouth food bank staff run off their feet as supplies become stretched * New home needed for New Plymouth Foodbank to avoid closure * New Plymouth Foodbank in need of a new spot

Some volunteers are wearing gloves and beanies, but they’re just working harder and faster, she said.

"We’re doing anything to cut costs. We reduce what we buy.

"Everyone thinks that it's free. Nothing's free. We're not charging people for the food. But there's a huge monetary cost to the trust to keep operating."

The foodbank has been in a building behind the Peace Hall opposite the Taranaki Cathedral for two decades and has not had to pay rent.

However, at the end of 2020 the church gave notice its lease wouldn't be renewed and the foodbank would have to be out by the beginning of 2023.

But the lease has now been extended, manager Sharon Wills said.

"It will be reviewed before Easter next year. It's a relief we’ve got that extra time, but we still need to come up with a possible solution for the foodbank going forward."

Last month the foodbank gave out 321 parcels and fed 918 people, the highest number this year.

Despite looking for a new home for more than two years, they haven't found anywhere suitable – both in terms of cost and the all important central city location.

Those places they have looked at were out of reach with leases that ranged from $80,000 to $100,000 a year, Wills said.

"We're learning from the experience that we need more money than we have. And we're trying to really narrow down what it is that we need."

They do get donations from the public, which goes to pay the bills and for food such as meat and vegetables that aren't generally donated, she said.

"Our (food) bill was $342 for the week, but we ration that. I've got really tough on the volunteers. We have to weigh everything. I say to the volunteers I have x amount of cabbages and they have to last a week."

She won't buy chocolate biscuits or sandwich spreads, she said.

"But I will put a call out to the community if we run out of peanut butter. I’m saving our money for fruit and veg, meat, milk and toilet paper. We’re feeling the cost of living crunch as well.

"It's really just cutting back on everything we have to spend to make it work for as many people as possible."

She said the foodbank had been fortunate to be able to have a rent-free premises for so many years.

"That has been a huge thing and I suppose it was naive on our part to think it would continue forever."