Common Good Foundation recently partnered with the Greenlea Foundation to hand-delivered over four tonnes of frozen mincemeat throughout the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
The 4 tonnes of frozen mincemeat, made up of
268 x 15 kg cartons were distributed to
23 organisations throughout the Diocese, providing
32,000 meals for needy families and individuals
THE DELIVERY (Click on the map to enlarge)
Over two days in late September 2020, the Chair of the Common Good Foundation, Chris Grace, together with Deputy-Chair, Betty-Ann Kamp, drove around the Diocese in a small freezer truck supplied by Phil and Fiona Wisnewski of Hamilton Foods Ltd.
DAY 1 Monday 21st September 2020 – Around the WaikatoThe first two pallets of cartons were loaded into the refrigerated truck with the oversight of Murray Bailey, Logistics Manager at Greenlea Premier Meats. The Raglan Foodbank team arrived at the same time to collect their allocation of 18 cartons.
At each stop, the contact person met us to receive the delivery at a pre-arranged time.
Te Awamutu – The St Vincent de Paul (SvdP) co-ordinator met us and off-loaded 20 cartons. Fourteen cartons were distributed to the local Te Awamutu Foodbank and a further 6 cartons were destined for Te Kuiti.
Putaruru – A new group, known as Helping Hands, was very appreciative of the donation of 7 meat cartons to their recently established Foodbank.
Tokoroa –The Tokoroa Council of Social Services provides a wide range of wrap-around services for those in need and greatly appreciated their 25 cartons of mincemeat. Another organisation, the Tokoroa Community Foodbank, were also pleased to take delivery of 8 cartons.
Cambridge – The Catholic Parish in Cambridge received 7 cartons, some of which is being passed onto the Matamata parish for distribution in their community.
Morrinsville – The Baptist Church Foodbank is the central point where all Churches in the area send their donated food. The receipt of 10 cartons of mince was very welcome.
DAY 2 Tuesday 22nd September 2020 – Road trip to OpotikiRotorua – The SvdP leader and his team of volunteers waited expectantly for the delivery of 25 cartons of mince.
Kawerau – The SvdP group in Kawerau received 20 cartons. They had been able to secure the use of a large chest freezer at the old Kawerau Cosmopolitan Club to store the frozen meat and are planning to distribute it further locally, including to the community of Te Teko.
Opotiki – We were met by the SvdP representative who had planned with Whakatohea Social and Health Services to distribute 21 cartons of mincemeat both locally and further afield to communities in Te Kaha and further round the East Cape. Freezer space was limited so some mince was immediately distributed to needy families by the local iwi. Many cartons were held back or given to SvdP members for storage and later delivery. One member had driven from Matata to collect some cartons for distribution to needy families associated with the school in Matata. An allocation of 4 cartons was also picked up by a representative of SvdP in Gisborne.
Whakatane – The SvdP volunteers and co-ordinator received 20 cartons. Their surprise at receiving such a donation was palpable.
Tauranga – The Community Foodbank and SvdP worked together to receive and store their allocations of 20 + 20 cartons. This substantial donation of frozen mince was greatly appreciated. It will allow both groups to provide for many more clients accessing the local Foodbank for the first time. Their outreach extends to Mt Maunganui. The Community Foodbank provides budgeting and other wrap-around support for recipients.
Taupo – The last of the 10 cartons were delivered by Chris to the Parish office in Taupo on his return home. The parishioners there will be cooking up this mince to distribute as cooked meals in Taupo and Turangi.
DAY 3 Wednesday 23rd September 2020 – Pickups directly from Greenlea Premier MeatsTaumarunui –It was appreciated that a contact person from SvdP in Taumarunui was able to pick up 12 cartons from the Greenlea Premier Meats premises on Wednesday 23rd September.
Hamilton – the Hamilton Combined Christian Foodbank gratefully took delivery of 7 cartons to re-stock their freezer.
DAY 4 Friday 25th September 2020 – Final Deliveries
Cathedral - One carton of 1 kg packs was thankfully received by the co-ordinator of the Tuesday Meals program in Hamilton. This group will cook up the mince for the weekly hot lunch provided to the local homeless people.
Huntly – The final delivery of 5 cartons was made to the parish team at Huntly who were planning to distribute the packs to the local Anglican Foodbank in the town as well as to needy school families and elderly living on their own. Some would also be sent through to Ngaruawahia.
.THE GIFTING
The project was formulated as a collaboration between Greenlea’s and Common Good in support of a need recognised by Bishop Steve Lowe. The purpose was to distribute food to needy people in as many communities as possible within the Hamilton Diocese. Bishop Steve enthusiastically promoted the project as an example of Catholic caring in action. Bishop suggested that the focal point of contact should be the secretaries in the various parishes. These people would know who to work with when distributing the mince to the neediest people in each respective community.
The Caring Sunday Appeal, promoted within the Diocese during late July 2020, saw many parishioners pledge donations exceeding $35,000. The sum of $20,000 was set aside by Common Good specifically for this project. This amount was matched by $20,000 from the Greenlea Foundation and the combined amount was sufficient to purchase four tonnes of premium mincemeat off Greenlea Premier Meats.
The 500 gm or 1 kg packs of mincemeat were each labelled as follows:
‘This mince has been supplied to you by the Common Good Foundation and Greenlea Foundation – Catholic caring in action”. We delivered in total 268 cartons, with each carton weighing 15 kgs.
OUTCOMES
This project created the opportunity for the Common Good and the Greenlea Foundations to collaborate and partner in a highly visible manner to deliver very real and valued outcomes throughout the Hamilton Catholic Diocese. It afforded Common Good the opportunity to raise its profile within the Diocesan community and promote its purpose as a funder of social causes and initiatives. It also very publicly promoted the utilisation of funds donated during Common Good Foundation’s Caring Sunday Appeal. It affirmed that the bulk of Appeal funds were spent in providing food for allocation by the various parishes from which those same cash donations had been received.
Feedback
We have received many letters from the recipient groups expressing their deep gratitude for the meat donations.
“Wow this is truly amazing, and we are so blessed to have received your email today. I have had to take a few hours to let this sink in, before I was able to reply, as I felt very overwhelmed.” Social Worker in Schools, Putaruru
“I wish to thank you for all the work you have undertaken in arranging and delivering our recent meat delivery. I also request that you pass onto the Foundations board and Greenlea Meats our grateful thanks for providing the meat for distribution. There will be grateful recipients of this fine export product.” St Peter Chanel Conference
“We are delighted to be recipients of this amazing donation. This will really make a difference for the people who need it most!” Tauranga Community Foodbank
“Nga mihi ki a koutou mo to tautoko” (“Thank you for your support”) Whakatohea Social and Health Services, Opotiki
This project would not have been made possible without the backing of:
Greenlea Foundation (Peter Egan, Tony Egan), Hamilton Foods Ltd (Phil and Fiona Wisnewski), Bishop Steve (Hamilton Diocese) and the many, many parishioners who generously donated money through the recent Caring Sunday Appeal.
We thank the co-ordinators in each of the parish communities for their enthusiastic and welcoming support:
Marvie Dekker (Raglan), Allan MacManus (Te Awamutu), Sharon Mason (Te Kuiti), Megan Gall (Cambridge), Soli Leau (Putaruru), Rob Horne (Tokoroa), Lana Ahomiro (Tokoroa), Bronwyn O’Sullivan (Morrinsville), Barry Lister (Rotorua), Roswita Leitner (Kawerau), Sue Maloney (Opotiki), Breen Metcalf (Whakatane), Phillipa Huberts and Phyllis McCann (Gisborne), Nicki and Lorna Edlin (Tauranga), Mons Trevor Murray (Taupo), Terry Kay and Tony Buckley (Taumarunui), John Johnson (Huntly), Kath Kenrick and Deanna Bosenius (Hamilton) and all their volunteers.
“Nga mihi ki a koutou mo to tautoko”