Waitara Foodbank - Pataka Kai

08/06/2026

What a great kaupapa ❤️

08/06/2026

Tonight!!

07/06/2026

Meet our office super star Sharyn!!
3 years we have been blessed with her lovely heart, outstanding admin skills and cheery outlook.

She’s a story teller this one, and always has a good one to share! Loves a good joke, and family is everything ❤️

Sharyn volunteers at a number of organisations and is a local familiar face here in Waitara. (IYKYK)

Thanks Sharyn for your dedication, you rock.

07/06/2026

A massive shout out to Sunny and the team at Crazy Pumpkin New Plymouth who look after us when we need to purchase vegetables for our kai parcels.

Sometimes we have to buy in, and these guys make it a simple process with great produce, and their generosity does not go unnoticed when we receive extras as donations in our order,

🤩 thank you

07/06/2026

This weeks wish list

1. Toothpaste/soap
2. Coffee
3. Rice
4. Cereal
5. Canned meals

07/06/2026

It’s definitely autumn! The colours in the māra are stunning!!
There plenty of greens to pick- kale, spinach, silver beet, spring onions, parsley, lettuce all good to go. The more it’s picked, the more it will grow so help yourself!

There’s signage telling you what’s what :)

05/06/2026

62 parcels out today! What a wet, windy and wild day to be at mahi!
This picture tells a lot.
The last 3 parcels of the day, empty fridges, empty vege corner, volunteers heads down, bums up 😂

What you don’t see behind the scenes….

Our beautiful volunteers and staff chatting while they work.

Tears when talking to our parcel recipients about how tough they are finding it., their story is their own but we feel it along with them.

Two hearty vollies out taking a van full of recycling to the dump.

Empty freezers being cleaned out for the next influx.

A plan being made for ordering stock for next week.

Our morning van driver picking up a van full of Kai from Pak n save (purchased using our wonderful community donations!)

A table full of volunteers decanting coffee, flour, rice, and all the other stuff!

Volunteers sorting garden supplies in the shed outside and emptying the trailer.

Two vollies out delivering to 10 different places in the rain (but still smiling on return!)

We really do have an awesome team❤️

03/06/2026

Waitara East is very fortunate to have the knowledge and help of Amy from the Waitara Foodbank - Pataka Kai to guide our Tamariki within our School Maara.

Through Amy’s Maara Programme, Tamariki will learn about sustainability and what it looks like bringing Kai from the garden to the table. They will learn about composting, organic fertilisers, companion planting, natural pest control and how to prepare and utilise their homegrown produce.

Today we started off with sowing seeds of vegetables and flowers and planted in some more seedlings.

Come along with us on our Maara journey 🌱

03/06/2026

The NZ Game Animal Council and the Wild Game Recovery Trust have teamed up to support an increase in wild game meat being donated to foodbanks and families in need.

The initiative, Game Changer NZ, is led by the Wild Game Recovery Trust and is supported by the Game Animal Council, using their free voluntary online meat donation platform, Hunt and Share.

For every $120 donated, we receive much needed meat for our kai parcels!! This is something we struggle to have enough of, and are spending funds on.

You can donate any amount you wish 🙂

Check out our profile and how to donate here if you would like to. Every donation is much appreciated.

Support Waitara Food Bank Pataka Kai in New Plymouth, Taranaki. Every $120 funds professionally processed wild venison for families in need.