By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
Ray White Pegasus and The Oaks Rangiora Montessori Preschool popped into Kaiapoi Community Support before Christmas to drop off donated gifts from their Christmas Giving Trees. Photo: Supplied / Community Wellbeing North Canterbury
Christmas demand for food parcels reached record levels at North Canterbury's food banks.
Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon said he was impressed with the efforts of local not-for-profit organisations to support families struggling with the rising cost of living during the festive season.
''I have many people who come into my office who don't want to ask for help, but are in real need and these organisations are so supportive.
''We have a very caring community which is very generous in its donations to organisations like Hope Community Trust and the Salvation Army which allows them to do the work they do.''
Community Wellbeing North Canterbury's Kaiapoi food bank gave out 60 percent more food parcels than during Christmas 2021.
The service even saw families referred to it by the Christchurch City Mission, as it struggled to meet demand.
''Many people coming to our Kaiapoi Community Support service for assistance have never needed support before,'' co-ordinator Gabi Barlow said.
Alongside the regular food parcels, a Christmas Giving Programme is run to ensure struggling families have presents to put under the tree.
''Thanks to the kindness and generosity of our community, we gave out 2401 presents to families in need,'' she said.
''We could not have met the huge demand without the incredible support of our community.''
Kaiapoi Community Support reopened on 9 January and demand for food parcels continues to be high.
A record haul from last month's Toot for Tucker food drive, helped the food bank get through the Christmas period.
But Community Wellbeing North Canterbury was facing the same cost of living pressures, so more cash and food donations were needed, Barlow said.
Rangiora's Hope Community Trust is coming up with innovative ways to support families struggling to buy enough food, manager Tracy Pirie said.
The trust launched a new initiative, ''Top Ups'', last week as a less intrusive way to help families in need.
''Food is becoming a huge issue for a lot of families who have never needed help before,'' Pirie said.
''We set up a new Facebook page last week for ''Top Ups'' and I had two people come in last week in tears because they had no food in the house.
''We've got to be creative in our messaging because otherwise these people won't seek help until they're really hurting.''
It follows the ''Operation Christmas Dinner'' initiative, where the trust provided 40 local families with a Christmas dinner food parcel.
The trust was busy in the lead up to Christmas and opened for two days between Christmas and New Year to meet the demand.
One person had walked 10km to get a food parcel before New Year, Pirie said.
Gordon lent a hand with the distribution of Operation Christmas Dinner and helped serve Christmas Day lunch run by Kaiapoi's Reflections Community Trust.
''My thanks to all those organisations which offer support to those who need it.''
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air