Kai 4 All feeding the community

• Published date: 05 October 2023
• Author: Kate Durie
• Publication title: Te Awamutu Courier

During March last year, Kāpiti Kohatu-Cleft of the Rock Trust was given the opportunity to receive $10,000 from the Ministry of Social Development, explicitly tagged for households in the Waipā district who were Covid-19 positive

From March to April 2022, in collaboration with Kainga Aroha Community House, as the official Community Connector, Kai 4 All was instrumental in providing over 200 Covid-19 positive households.

During the emergency response from 2020 scaling down to May 2023, Operation Kai 4 All received a Covid-19 Response Recognition Award, Te Tohu Urupare Kowheori-19 from Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, in recognition of its service in support of the national Covid-19 response Hei whakanui i ta koutou mahi tautoko I te urupare a-motu ki te Kowheori-19.

“Kai 4 All is very grateful. We weren’t aware they were giving out awards, and it came at a time when everyone was so down and this came on the back of that. This award is for all the people who have volunteered, came to receive food or those who have donated produce to us. It is their reward and their recognition,” says Tuhaio Halling, of Kai 4 All.

Operation Kai 4 All is a voluntary community distribution charity that distributes free donated food resources to and for all families within the Waipā community. It operates once a week every Thursday from the Te Awamutu Scout Hall for volunteers from 8.30am, and is open at 10am to distribute to the community from 10am to 10.30am.

The inspiration for Kai 4 All started because people pre-Covid were economically struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table.

“Kai 4 All’s work means that people in the community’s needs are met, as the struggle is real. It was real well before Covid-19, however, the pandemic ... showed the magnitude of people in need,” says Halling.

Kane Rangitonga, the manager of Kainga Aroha in Te Awamutu, says, “Kai 4 All makes it easier for us to meet the needs of the community. We know everyone is struggling, people always think it is just the poor who are struggling. I say, how do you know who the poor people are because I know a lot of people who used to be rich that are now poor..

“A lot of people we are working with at the moment are people who thought they would have their houses for the rest of their lives, or their jobs. After Covid, they found out they did not have either. It is groups like Kai 4 All that are helping in our community,” adds Rangitonga.

Kai 4 All spoke to the community to see if this is something...