Nourishing those in need was the drive for a trio of local business titans to haul a trailer into its office space and fill it with non-perishable items donated by the community.
The project, catered by the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce, Nelson Regional Development Agency (NRDA), and the Mahitahi Colab, was part of the Nelson Community Food Bank’s mid-winter donation drive with food donation stations in Richmond, Stoke, and Nelson areas.
Chamber of Commerce office manager David Kerr says its support for the project was hitched by NRDA staff member Lesley McQue who welcomed donations from her fellow colleagues by keeping a personal donation box destined for the food bank under her desk.
“Having accumulated enough items to fill a box and start another box, Lesley thought maybe the Chamber of Commerce across the hallway might be interested in putting something in,” he says.
“Thinking about the need there is in the community, we’re certainly aware that the food bank has got significant demand, but also thinking that between the three organisations, we have an incredible reach across the business community.
“Once we heard it had a month-long campaign coming up, the idea of us helping them to raise awareness with that seemed a bit like a no-brainer.”
David estimates thousands of donated items filled their donation trailer in three weeks.
“It’s been very heartening to see that level of interest that’s been across businesses and individuals who have heard about the promotion,” he says.
The trailer was unloaded at the Nelson Community Food Bank last Tuesday and its manager Daniel Grade says the donation from the three groups was “absolutely incredible”.
“The amount of food that those guys have collected for us is just phenomenal, I can’t quite believe it,” he says.
“The demand for our services this year has increased greatly, we’ve seen unprecedented levels of demand, we have all been reading about and have seen in the news the cost of living, and I think that’s had a real knock-on effect on families in our region.
“I imagine from what I can see here, I won’t need to purchase many items for months and months… I can see some of this stuff lasting until Christmas.”
Daniel also applauded the many other individuals and organisations who had participated in the mid-winter donation drive.
