Delivered/Waikato Times
Rugby league star Joseph Manu started his career at Tokoroa High School and is an ambassador for the Halo Trust.
In just two years, the Tokoroa-based Halo Charitable Trust has distributed nearly 400,000 kg of food, equivalent to about 1.2 million meals, to whānau in need of assistance in southern Waikato.
Most recently, the trust has had a helping hand in the form of rugby league star Joseph Manu, who is also an ambassador for the trust, and was born and raised in the timber town of South Waikato.
Halo Charitable Trust manager Marina Hagevoort said Halo works with about 30 community organizations in South Waikato and runs a food distribution center in Tokoroa that supplies food to local food banks and other organizations in the region.
Halo is part of Progressive Enterprises’ Food Rescue Program, which operates New Zealand’s Woolworths, Countdown and Foodtown supermarkets.
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Hagevoort said they would not be able to do their job without the help of Trinity Lands, a Putāruru-based agricultural fund that supports a range of community organizations in South Waikato and New Zealand.
“We work with community organizations from Tīrau to Tokoroa, our kaupapa is food distribution, so we deliver to all those groups who do the work at the coal mine,” she said.
“They’re doing a great job and there’s no doubt that demand has gotten much higher, especially in the last three months.”
She said that since Trinity Lands helped Halo set up its distribution center two years ago, the trust had distributed about 390,000 kg of food and supplies to local organizations, amounting to about 1.2 million meals.
Delivered/Waikato Times
From left, Trinity Lands’ Brett Fleming, Halo Trust manager Marina Hagevoort and Tokoroa’s NRL star and Halo Trust ambassador Joseph Manu.
“During the first lockdown we were very busy and that will continue.
“Our organizations tell us that people who work now have access to this service because of the cost of living.
“By the time they pay for electricity, rent, school uniforms and fuel, food is often at the bottom of the list and runs out in no time,” she said.
Brett Fleming is general manager for sustainability at Trinity Lands, which owns and operates approximately 20 ranches in South Waikato and gives back approximately 55% of its profits to charitable causes.
“In Halo’s case, we finance things like infrastructure – we pay the lease for their Tokoroa hub – and we bought a refrigerated truck, freezers and racks – the nuts and bolts that support the operation.
“We just want to help the community, and often we see people with really good ideas and we want to help them with the kinds of things that allow them to do their good work.
Jeremy Ward/Photosport
Joseph Manu in action for the Kiwis against Mate Ma’a Tonga last month.
“We’re excited to be able to do this,” Fleming said.
“Some of the different organizations we work with are now working together, and we’re excited to help build those networks and help them work together more efficiently and productively.”
Manu, 26, plays for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition and for New Zealand. He was part of the winning teams of the Roosters’ 2018 and ’19 Grand Finals and made his debut for the Kiwis in their famous 2018 win over Australia at Mount Smart Stadium.
Hagevoort said Manu was excited to give back to his hometown and was proud to say he was the trust’s ambassador.
“He’s a great role model for our kids and it’s great to see people’s faces when he arrives.
“He loves what we do and said he really enjoys helping us when he’s back in town.
“He has been there in the van to deliver food, and delivering food to his own people is very humbling for him.”