Te Pātaka is preparing for the dry season due to the drought and the increase in supermarket prices, which has also led to the preparation of food parcels for thousands of people across the region in the coming months.
Te Pātaka is again preparing for a busy season with high inflation, high supermarket prices, packing boxes of kai for thousands of people on the other side of the Rohe for the coming months.
Read this story in English here.
Te Pātaka has grown from its origins in Te Tauihu’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, to become the leading nutritional support system for families in Te Waka’s Tauihu.
Te Pātaka has grown from early roots in the Tauihu iwi response to the Covid-19 pandemic and has evolved into a longstanding kai support system for whānau at the top of the South Island.
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Now it has become a feather for the bird named Te Kotahi from Te Tauihu Charitable Trustand Te Pātaka has just begun preparations in Richmond and Wairau.
Now firmly under the wing of Te Kotahi from Te Tauihu Charitable TrustTe Pātaka’s preparation for the Christmas rush is already underway in both Richmond and Wairau.
According to the Trust’s Resource Management Officer, Dr. Lorraine Eade, the community’s desire to donate seems to be waning, but the number of people helping is increasing. He has filled the boxes with food for the dead so that they can be picked up in the season when they chew the ground.
Trust Pou Whakahaere Rauemi Dr. Lorraine Eade said there were no signs of abatement in the community, and in fact more families and individuals needed help. She helped pack boxes of non-perishable food ready for collection for those in need during the upcoming holiday season.
Dr. Lorraine Eade of Te Kotahi o Te Tauihu Trust fills food parcels in Richmond. / Dr Lorraine Eade of Te Kotahi o Te Tauihu Trust packing boxes of food at the trust center in Richmond. There are two warehouses – one in Wairau, one in Richmond – to serve the entire Te Tauihu region.
According to him, people are prepared for the difficulties they face due to high internet costs affecting mortgage payments, high supermarket payments and arbitrary payments.
She said people were increasingly talking about difficulties with high interest rates affecting mortgage payments, high supermarket prices and unexpected costs.
“For some people, it’s just one bill that falls off the cliff of the well. Maybe it’s a funeral, a car payment, or a random payment that can hold you for months,” he said.
“For some people, it’s just one bill that can win them over. It could be a tangi, a car bill, unexpected expenses that could set you back months,” she said.
“Demand is increasing – that’s the economy, but it’s not getting any easier for whānau.”
“The need is only growing – the economy is the economy, but it’s not getting any better for families.”
According to Lorraine, there are two ways to help Te Pātaka. If you are a Māori that is the song No Whānau Goes Hungry, or if you are a Pākehā that is the way if you have been hit by a typhoon or a flood.
Eade said there were two ways to get help from Te Pātaka. For Māori there was the No Whānau Goes Hungry trail and for non-Māori the Covid and flood affected trail.
‘ said all eight tribes [rā te urutā], it is our responsibility to prevent Māori from starving,” he said. “We also have a second way, for people affected by the Koheori or the flood – a way for everyone.”
‘All eight said iwi [during the pandemic] our job was to make sure that no Māori whānau went hungry,” she said. “The second path we have, for anyone impacted by Covid or floods – that’s for everyone.”
Te Pātaka in Wairau has been established as an emergency parliament – where whānau have access to fuel and nutritious food, more than 400 food boxes and 75 fuel packs were distributed in the first few months. Now Lorraine suspects that thousands of whānau and other people supported Te Pātaka – its 8000 whānau and 2500 individuals.
Te Pātaka started in Wairau (Marlborough) as an emergency response – to ensure families had access to firewood and essential food items, delivering more than 400 kai boxes and 75 loads of firewood in the first few months. Now Eade estimated that the number of families and individuals who had received support from Te Pātaka ran into the thousands—about 8,000 families and 2,500 individuals.
According to him, there are many ways that people are affected by Kowheori, that is, the direct effect of the disease and its biological features, even the loss of work or the need to support the whānau mauiui, Te Pātaka is a mainstay does not from what.
She said that people could be affected by Covid in many ways, from directly having the disease and its potential long-term effects, to losing jobs or having to care for sick whānau, and Te Pātaka was there for everyone.
The eight tribes of Te Tauihi, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Te Ātiawa o te Waka o Māui, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Rārua, Rangitāne ki Wairau, Ngāti Tama and Ngāti Toa Rangatira to Wairau.
The eight iwi of Te Tauihu are Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Te Ātiawa o te Waka o Māui, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Rārua, Rangitāne ki Wairau, Ngāti Tama and Ngāti Toa Rangatira ki Wairau.
Janelle Patterson puts the leftovers in food boxes. Te Pātake has already announced that it will support the box set for the Christmas season. / Janelle Patterson packs shelf-stables for food boxes. Te Pātaka boxes were prepared in advance to help serve the busy Christmas season.
It was translated by the Māori language leader in Puna, Taurapa.
Translation by Stuff Māori Language Leader Taurapa.