Christmas food bank raises over $100k

A day after a community advocate revealed that his South Auckland foodbank would not last until Christmas, the public has responded with more than $100,000 raised.

Dave Butterbean Letele announced on Tuesday that a large freezer storing tonnes of meat at his Buttabean Motivation Foodbank was deliberately turned off and a forklift smashed.

He warned hundreds of vulnerable families, who rely on a South Auckland food bank for some Christmas cheer, would miss out this year.

"We urgently need your support. Our 20ft container freezer, which was filled with thousands of dollars worth of frozen food and meat for our BBM Foodshare (Foodbank), was intentionally switched off resulting in the complete loss of pallets of frozen goods inside.

"Unfortunately this means that everything we had stored to help struggling families, has now gone to waste.

Butterbean Motivation Foodbank has been supplying food and essentials to up to 1000 families a week. Photo/RNZ

"In addition to this, our Forklift which is located next to the container freezer was also vandalised.

"We simply cannot afford to replace the food we’ve lost, and without this resource, we’re unable to continue providing the support to our families in need."

Letele said the foodbank has been supplying food and essentials to up to 1000 families a week.

What started as a health and fitness programme has evolved into a full-scale food bank because of the crushing impacts of Covid-19.

Buttabean Motivation has been delivering between 400 and 700 food parcels a week during the pandemic.

Letele said he was no longer able to continue helping needy families without funding support.

Watch Dave Letele, Susan Prescott Taufa, and Jake Lilley discuss the government funding cuts to budgeting advisory services.

He set up a Givealittle page - BBM Motivation - and as of midnight, $110,587 had been raised.

"BBM Motivation offers free programmes designed to improve health outcomes and well-being in communities affected by obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

"These initiatives include free community boot camps, a 12-week lifestyle program for those with long-term health conditions, youth programmes, pre-employment training, and mental well-being focus groups.

"BBM also provides support to vulnerable families through the BBM Foodshare in Auckland, and Social Supermarket in Tokoroa.

"Your generous donation will allow us to continue supporting families in our community by replacing the pallets of frozen goods that were lost due to spoilage and repairing the damaged forklift essential for our operations."