VisionWest is launching our very own Free-Food Store Foodbank project. For over 25 years, VisionWest has helped individuals and whanau within our local community with emergency food parcels. Over that time, we’ve gotten to know our community pretty well and also found out a lot about how and why people are in circumstances where they are in need of food.
In response to these learnings, VisionWest is taking a giant step forward to better meet the ever increasing needs of our community. Pataka Kai.
Pataka What?
Pataka Kai comes from a fantastic Maori tradition. Within each Maori community, a storehouse of food for the community existed. Different whanau would stock the storehouse at different times of the year, and the whole community benefited from it.
So how will that work at VisionWest? We are opening a new Foodbank concept store where, rather than whanau stocking it, we will use excess food from local businesses to benefit those in our community who need it. In addition to reducing food deprivation we will also assist in eliminating food waste. We will then be opening 5 days a week, giving those in need plenty of opportunity to come and fill their baskets with however much they need.
It’s a fantastic project and we can’t wait to launch it. To get us over the line, The Trust’s Million Dollar Mission are partnering with us to help us raise $120,000. For more information about Million Dollar Mission, click here. https://www.milliondollarmission.co.nz/about-the-mission/
Every vote for our project gives us $5 towards our goal. For more information on how you can help us reach our goal, click here. https://www.milliondollarmission.co.nz/finalists/visionwest