About 40 Pāpāmoa residents and those from further afield gathered at Golden Sands Baptist Church to discuss how to establish a new Pāpāmoa Food Hub to support the community.

The idea comes from Western Bay of Plenty Neighbourhood Support Pāpāmoa Area Coordinator Bruce Banks and follows the sudden closure of the Anglican-operated Pāpāmoa Family Services at the end of September. Read more here.

The service had run out of the Hartford Ave site since 2010 when it took over the Community Support Centre in Domain Rd in 2002.

Bruce says it’s imperative that the community retain the services, so a lot of work needs to be done quickly.

The emergency services and Neighbourhood Support food drive, which collects more than 50 trailer loads of food, is due to run on December 5.

Bruce says the food hub will provide food parcels, care packages and run cooking classes to encourage independence for struggling families.

People gathered at the meeting.

The new entity will be established with assistance from Neighbourhood Support, SociaLink and other organisations, eventually forming its own Trust.

The aim is to engage with clients, teaching free cooking classes and sending out recipes with food parcels.

The hub will also put clients in touch with helping agencies to improve their situation and move them to independence.

The organisation will be volunteer based, forming an initial committee, seeking funding, establishing a legal entity and seeking charitable status.

It will also need to establish business relationships, and establish local food rescue partnerships “for Pāpāmoa people, by Pāpāmoa people”, says Bruce.

He says it has been offered rental space at the church, but at a cost.

It would also have ‘neighbours’ at the church to provide community support to families, which would be referred to the Hub by local agencies.

The project will need an annual budget of about $50,000 and Bruce has offered the first $1000 himself.

There will be a GiveALittle page set up, and many other kinds of support is needed, such as website design, legal help, cooks, shelving, storage, freezers and refrigeration and access to local food supplies.

Bruce Banks at the meeting.

A new committee willbe set up from people who have volunteered their time and many other people have expressed interest, he says.

Anyone interested in being part of the committee, or volunteering for the project to do one of the many jobs available can contact Bruce at [email protected] or phone 027 271 3772.