Foodbank Project

Every day, needy New Zealanders gratefully accept food parcels. Last year alone, The Salvation Army distributed 55,425 food parcels. There tends to be seasonal fluctuations in the need for food parcels – around Christmas, when school starts and as the weather turns and gets colder (and consequently more money is spent on heating etc), sees a spike in need.

The Foodbank Project launched in December, but awareness is beginning to gather momentum through word of mouth and social media.

Countdown supermarkets are supporting the initiative, which allows people to donate goods online from a list of useful products that food parcel recipients need most. To date, more than 16,000 items have been donated. of its existence is being spread by word of mouth and social media by the likes of Aucklander Jennifer McKenzie.

The idea of the online Foodbank Project is to help the Salvation Army get the food and household items they need to prepare balanced food parcels, instead of relying on the sometimes rather random food items donated, often by shoppers dropping tins and packets into trolleys strategically placed by supermarket exits.

Donating into trolleys at supermarket exits are always welcome, but can lead to an unpredictable selection in food parcels. Instead, the online Foodbank Project is set up like an online shopping site, where those donating choose what to buy from a ‘wish list’ provided. There are more than 300 different lines of food and household goods people can buy, with a heavy focus on budget brands and low-cost, high-nutrition fruits and vegetables like apples, potatoes and carrots.

Countdown provides the items bought by donors at a discount to the price charged for the items in its supermarkets, though donors through the website buy them at the same price they are sold instore. The difference between the cost to Countdown of food items and the price charged to the donor is donated by the supermarket to fund the Foodbank Project.

For more information, click here.