'Please stop coming': Families turned away as demand for food parcels outstrips supply

Thursday, 20 December 2018

People waiting for food parcels are numbered off, so volunteers know when they've hit their quota for the day.

On Thursday at 4.36am, Papakura Marae started turning away families queuing for that morning's limited supply of emergency food parcels.

On a social media post, the south Auckland marae asked people to stay home, out of the rain, because the quota had been reached for the day.

Struggling families are queuing from 3am for a food parcel at Eden Park, Auckland.

Earlier that week the marae had asked people to 'please stop coming' after supplies ran out.

Papakura Marae is one of three Auckland sites being forced to turn families away empty handed as demand for Auckland City Mission emergency food parcels and Christmas presents outstrips supply.

* Record number of children spending Christmas in homeless shelter

* Donations needed for Auckland City Mission's annual Christmas appeal**

Stuff spoke to queuing families who said they had travelled from as far afield as Taumaranui and people who stayed overnight to be first in line.

Missioner Chris Farrelly said people were queuing through the night in order to be first in line for support, but staff had been forced to turn people away when the food ran out.

'It is a disturbing and painful time for myself, Mission teams and our marae partners,' he said.

People queue overnight to make sure they're one of the the 200 who get a food parcel that day.

'The numbers of people coming for help are huge, and often mask the stories of individuals struggling to get on their feet after significant trauma.

'I see hundreds of people who have patiently waited most of the night to be in the line to collect a little of what most of us would regard as Christmas essentials; some food for the family, some presents for their children, and where possible, a special needs grant from Work and Income.

'I see mothers and grandmothers desperately wanting to do a little more for their children and grandchildren.'

On a positive note, Farrelly said the volume of donated food and presents was 'huge and highlights the generosity of individuals and families'.

'Also unseen are the thousands of volunteers who have worked quietly often late into the night at our distribution centres. These people come from multiple organisations and represent every part of our community.'

Auckland City Mission planned to hand out 800 parcels a day at the three locations, right up until Christmas.

However, financial donations were still needed as the Mission had only reached half of its $1.5 million appeal target.

Donations could be made at aucklandcitymission.org.nz or by calling 09 303 9200.