Shani and Kelly back on the road again with kai parcels for Kāwhia Moana

Shani Whitiora and Kelly Isherwood were instrumental in getting kai out to our vulnerable whānau around the Kāwhia harbour during the first lockdown.  Day 2 of this lockdown and they’re back on the road again.  This time heading to Waahi marae, Huntly to pick up kai earmarked for King Tūheitia’s coronation celebrations cancelled earlier this week due to Level 4 lockdown restrictions.

Vegetables for distribution to our marae

Kelly says while it’s unfortunate the Koroneihana was canned, all of the veges are being distributed to local marae foodbanks. 

“The veges will be added to food parcels and given out to our whānau who need kai.  We’re very lucky Maketū marae has opened its doors again and allowed us to base our Kāwhia moana foodbank at the marae. Maketū has the facilities to ensure health and safety standards are up to scratch 24/7 because this kai is going out to our vulnerable whānau who struggle at times like this.  While the food bank is only distributing food, we expect other services will support our whānau with additional household goods such as toiletries and cleaning products.” Kelly says.

From the last COVID 19 lockdown, Shani says they already know who needs kai.     

“For many of our whānau around the harbour lockdown means no mahi.  No mahi, no kai!  The other challenge about living out on the coast, there’s no supermarket nearby.  We have to drive to places like Te Awamutu, Otorohanga and Te Kuiti.  However, it’s not an easy task for many of our solo parents with young kids.  You can’t just up and leave them at home unattended while you pop out for half a day.  For most of us, it’s an hour into town and an hour back to the coast,” Shani says.

She says they both learnt a lot from the last lockdown

“Second time around, we’re familiar with the needs of our community.  Some need kai, some need firewood, some drinking water and others need a hand to pay their electricity bill.  Luckily, we had all of our marae behind us during the first lockdown who quickly accessed government funding set aside for vulnerable families,” Shani says. 

Kelly says they were grateful to the 8 marae around the Kāwhia harbour. Ngā Marae o Kāwhia Moana banded together to raise funding for our local food bank and local whānau who needed financial help during the lockdown. 

“We ain’t millionaires out here but we’re rich with aroha.  When the lockdown was lifted, all of our 8 marae worked together to secure more funding to help our communities adjust to the impact of lockdown. So this time, we were ready to kick start our marae foodbank as soon as we went into lockdown Tuesday midnight.  With our marae infrastructure behind us meant Shani and I could get on with the mahi.  We didn’t have to worry about money.  All 8 marae stepped up to the mark and made sure we had money in the bank,” she says.

He mihi tēnei, nā “Ngā Marae o Kāwhia Moana” ki te kōmiti whakahaere o Te Koroneihana. Tēnā koutou mō ngā kai i tākohatia mai ki ngā marae.

He mihi anō tēnei ki te kāwanatanga, nāna ngā pūtea āwhina i whakarite hei manaaki i ngā whānau i patua e te kore mahi.

Thanks to the Coronation Committee for helping us out with kai and a big mihi to the government for their funding support targeted at vulnerable families during lockdown

“Amohia ake te ora o te iwi, kia puta ki te wheiao”

“The well-being of the people is paramount”