Costs threaten a food supply

With the high cost of food ever increasing, a Te Puke-based charity is having to call on the community to continue feeding those in need.

The Daily Café is a charity run café that connects with the community, running initiatives and events, and providing food to those who may be struggling with this basic necessity.

Operating since 2016, the café has operated through the tough times of Covid-19, and is now facing challenges with the rising cost of living.

“This year the rapid cost of food inflation has really affected our charity because the need is still there – and we haven’t dropped any of our supply to our community,” says founding member and general manager Chrissi Robinson.

“We’ve sort of really had to review our budget… and it’s not like in a business where you can pass on that increased cost of ingredients through your pricing – in a charity you don’t have a price.”

A big part of the charity is providing healthy school lunches to Te Puke schools that aren’t considered eligible under the Ministry of Education’s Healthy School Lunches Programme.

“Currently we provide 270 unfunded lunches to four schools in the Te Puke area everyday – so that works out to be over 40,000 lunches a year,” says Chrissi.

“Those 40,000 lunches now cost a lot more than we expected to produce, so it’s really hard on the budget and the rate of inflation has just been more than we expected.”

With families facing higher food costs, Chrissi says: “There’s hardly a week goes by that one of our unfunded schools doesn’t ring and ask: ‘Can we have one more kid because this is the situation [the family] is in’”.

Chrissi is hoping the charity isn’t put in a situation where they have to cut back on what they can give. “If we don’t see some kind of shift or improvement, or aren’t able to find that support –we’ll have to really look hard at what we can do.

“I just don’t even want to think about that because I know the food is just so needed. Our strategy is to appeal to our community – to those in our community who are journeying this okay that might be able to chip in for those who need that extra support.

“We’ve actually started up a Givealittle page campaign with a target of raising $40,000, which is a $1 contribution towards all the lunches that we do.”If you can chip in, donate at: https://givealittle.co.nz/org/the-daily-charitable-trust

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Bayfair road closure

A small section of Maunganui Rd between the Bayfair roundabout and Exeter St is temporarily closing for reconstruction of the ground level road as part of the Bay Link project.

From early morning Wednesday, June 7, this section of road will be closed until early spring and a detour for people travelling locally will be in place. Following the full closure, the road will then be open but reduced to one lane until late spring to enable completion of footpaths, driveways and other elements.

The new Bayfair flyover won’t be impacted by this closure and continue to provide for most traffic travelling on SH2.

GNZ Science pleads guilty

The Crown Research Institute GNS Science has this week pleaded guilty to charges brought against it in the wake of the deadly Whakaari eruption.

The charges relate to multiple field trips GNS staff took before the eruption in December 2019 and the institute’s failure in its duty to its workers.

GNS lawyer Garth Gallaway entered the guilty plea in Whakatāne District Court, sitting in Auckland on Tuesday before Judge Evangelos Thomas.

GNS will be sentenced in August.

Plea for missing tag

Shark scientist Riley Elliott is calling on the public to help find a missing shark tag.

In a post on Facebook, Riley says the tag appears to have floated ashore and has been tracked to Gate Pa, probably taken home by a resident who may not be aware what it is.

“This isn’t a manhunt it’s a tag hunt,” says Riley on his Facebook page.

“The person likely doesn’t know what it is, so please if you know people in the Gate Pa area or a community page there, please share this post and see if we can get the tag back.”

He’s offering a reward of $100 to anyone finding and returning the tag.

Riley asks anyone who has found the tag to text or call him on 027 463 7397.

Tauranga tradie shines bright

Tauranga’s Jared Menzies has scored second place as the top carpentry apprentice in the country, at the New Zealand Certified Builders Apprentice Challenge sponsored by ITM.

Canterbury’s Alex Erickson won the coveted first place title of top carpentry apprentice, and Daniel Merwyn from Taupo came in third.

The NZCB Apprentice Challenge National Final took place at NZCB’s annual conference in Christchurch on May 26-27, where 21 regional finalists from across the nation competed for the top prize.

Apprentices were judged on examples of their work, dedication towards their apprenticeship, and a presentation to more than 500 NZCB member builders at the conference.