Peanut butter king donates party catering to frontline responders

Sunday, 21 August 2022

Bands of Nelson residents have grabbed their wheelbarrows and garden tools to help their neighbours living on Riverside.

A Nelson legend has donated food to people on the front line after wild weather caused the cancellation of a major milestone.

Pic’s Peanut Butter founder Pic Picot had planned to celebrate his 70th birthday at the Boathouse on Saturday, with 130 people set to attend.

However, the previous four days of flooding and rain caused Picot to cancel the event.

Picot has decided to donate his party’s catering to Civil Defence, as well as locals who have been evacuated from their homes over the past few days.

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The party’s catering was provided by Nourish Catering, and was to feed 130 people Saturday night.

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Picot said he made the decision early Saturday morning to cancel the event. Additionally, many of his friends had not been able to fly into the region due to the wild weather.

“It seemed silly to get a whole lot of people together. It was better to cancel it.”

While the sun returning during the day had cast some doubts in his mind, Picot said he was glad he had cancelled his birthday party, as it would help free up the roads for Civil Defence personnel to use.

The 70-year-old was now spending his birthday having a quiet get-together with a few friends and family at home.

Picot said Nourish Catering had done an amazing job on the food. The catering company had been “so stoked” to give the spread to emergency services staff and evacuees through Te Kotahi o Te Tauihu Charitable Trust.

“Nourish did an amazing job.”

Picot was based out in Marahau, and said many of his friends in the Maitai Valley had been affected by the flooding.

Pic Picot has donated his birthday party’s catering to frontline emergency and Civil Defence personnel and evacuees.

The 70-year-old said it was challenging to see the region being affected by the wet weather bomb taking place across the region. The Pic’s Peanut Butter factory out in Stoke had been lucky enough to escape the worst of the weather.

Climate change was a major concern for Picot, with the man spending “half his waking life” worrying about the effects of global warming on the planet.

“I think as businesses we have an opportunity to make a difference.”

Nelson councillor Matt Lawrey said, while he was sad he would not be able to celebrate Picot’s birthday with him, he was proud of him for turning a sad situation into an opportunity to support frontline emergency staff.

“There are so many stories like this around our city right now. It says a lot about our town and its people. Kia kaha Whakatū!”