PM makes donation appeal for Auckland needy

Thursday, 21 December 2017

The Government's poverty reduction measures taken in its first 60 days 'won't have an immediate effect', Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

'Queues out the door' at the Auckland City Mission show just how much impoverished Kiwis need help, the Prime Minister said.

Jacinda Ardern and senior Government ministers visited the mission on Thursday, witnessing the demand for food parcels.

'All of us have been aware of the huge demand for places and services across the country like Auckland City Mission,' Ardern said.

Auckland City Mission needs to raise $1.3 million to meet demand for its services.

'Today they've hit record numbers - 400 food parcels, I urge anyone who can spare non-perishable foods' to give them to charities, she said.

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On Wednesday, Alexis Sawyers, the mission's fundraising team leader, said 400 parcels a day was pushing the charity to its limits.

Although feeding people was one of the mission's aims, its 'priority' was rasing donations so it could continue its work helping people post-holiday break.

The mission needs to raise $1.3 million to meet demand for its services.

Donations had been 'slower than we'd hoped', Sawyers said.

HOLD ON

Ardern promised that poverty-reduction measures taken by her new Labour-led coalition government would eventually work.

'What we've done in the last 60 days won't have an immediate effect.

'No one wants to be in business' running services having to provide food and accommodation to the needy families over the holiday period, she said.

'They ultimately want to be out of business.'

Ardern's 'only question' to city mission chief executive Chris Farrelly was 'how long will it take to fix this?''