When Ralph Pyatt finally decided to retire from running the Waikanae Parish Foodbank in late 2020 Pippa was thrilled at the opportunity to take over. Ralph, and his late wife Ngaio, ran the foodbank for 22 years, delivering thousands of food parcels to those in need.

Pippa had a vision to extend what the foodbank offers to the Waikanae community and has been excited to see it take shape. “I’ve had a burden for the people of Waikanae for a long time and often find myself spontaneously breaking into prayer when I drive over the boundary line into the town,” says Pippa. “And I’ve wanted a way to reach more of the people in our community.” 

The new foodbank initiatives, LIFE on Wednesday and Friday Food Share, were launched in March. 

LIFE on Wednesday is a totally free after-school drop-in for families. Families are served a delicious afternoon tea and the kids get to do free-play or join in with a craft activity. Also on offer each week is the LOVE Library – books that can be borrowed or just taken home, the HOPE Swap – a cupboard full of free kids clothes, and the PEACE Pantry – free lunchbox food and frozen meals. “It has really taken off and some weeks in term 2 we had 40+ people,” says Pippa. “It’s great to see the families making connections and how comfortable the kids are as they come in.”  

Each Friday the hall at St Luke’s is full of trestle tables covered in food from the foodbank cupboard and Kaibosh Food Rescue. Instead of food parcels being delivered each week, people are invited to Friday Food Share to make up their own food parcels. A hot lunch is also served during the winter months. “One of the great things about this is that as well as the families getting the food they need, we are reducing the amount of food that goes into landfill. It’s win-win,” says Pippa. “Sadly, though, demand for food has been increasing, which means more and more people are struggling to make ends meet.” With demands increasing, the foodbank needs more storage space, and the parish is in the process of moving it into a larger space so they can take more donated food. 

“It’s has been truly amazing how quickly these new initiatives have taken off. It’s almost overwhelming at times, seeing the vision that I have held for years come into being,” says Pippa. “The people it the parish are really behind it too. We get a lot of food donated each week and have a good core of people helping out on Wednesdays and Fridays.”