“All of that is driving this escalating need.<\/p>\n

“And then we have this issue with food prices, which is a global issue, but impacts the people who are on the margins more than most.”<\/p>\n

This food bank operates on a different model to some others. Gray says the common picture of people lined up in cars being handed bags of food is not what they do. Their clients come from agency referrals so they have a lot of information about what the recipients need and the food is then delivered by volunteers.<\/p>\n

“We are supplying for people who are in a crisis,” she says.<\/p>\n

Good Works also operates a school lunch programme run through teachers who know which kids are hungry – they’re given meal kits and lunchboxes so that when they come to school, their lunch looks just like that of the child they’re sitting next to – there’s no charity stigma involved.<\/p>\n

About 70 to 80 percent of the food the bank distributes is bought. Gray spends thousands of dollars each week buying basics like milk, bread, meat, fresh and frozen vegetables, canned foods, biscuits, crackers and hygiene products.<\/p>\n

The rest comes from donations from NZ Foodlink, KiwiHarvest, supermarkets and Bakers Delight.<\/p>\n

Gray says Browns Bay New World for example has been phenomenally generous, and most people would not know when they shop there how much help the business gives to them. “It’s very low key.”<\/p>\n

Other companies are also happy to pitch in, without any demands for recognition.<\/p>\n

Just last week Gray made a desperate pitch to Driveline North Shore, a car leasing company, explained what the organisation did and what it needed, and a week later they had a vehicle to use. The company is paying all the associated costs.<\/p>\n

“Just an absolutely incredible thing,” she says. “And his observation to me was ‘we are doing well. Times are tough. We have been thinking that we want a way to support our local community. So we’re going to help you’.<\/p>\n

“Amazing.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Auckland’s North Shore is probably the last place you’d expect to find a food bank supplying people in desperate need. But the cost of living crisis is hitting hard and wide. Sophie Gray runs the Good Works Trust food bank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[146],"tags":[148,149],"class_list":["post-170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories-of-help","tag-food","tag-living-resources"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n