How did South Auckland rally to support their community during the COVID-19 lockdown?

Local community groups supporting each other in times of crisis

Each day community centres in South Auckland experience an unprecedented number of requests from people with food inadequacies. With volunteer support; community hubs located in residential areas have succeeded in effectively supporting vulnerable whanau and elderly in need. Despite being one of the most marginalised and at-risk communities; South Auckland is also home to people who genuinely demonstrate a strong ethos of giving back and serving their communities.

Local places of worship like the ISSO temple (International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation) are among the many organisations who have opened their hearts, and their doors, to distribute food parcels to locals who are facing the downturn of the COVID-19 economic impact.

A group consisting of 20 youth members from the ISSO temple, a charitable organisation located in Papatoetoe, Auckland, initiated a project to distribute free food packages during the lockdown. The word was spread through social media and data was collated by the youth to estimate the amount of food the temple needed to order and, most importantly, to understand some of the issues in their locality that lead to this need.

Supporting their mahi on the day were the organisations' members and local volunteers. The food packages were for anyone in the community who needed them. The chaos began when an overwhelming number of people started lining up at 6.30am for the distribution which was due to begin at 10am. The Manukau Māori Wardens who were at the site noticed an immediate need and they stepped in to lend a helping hand. They supported the Temple members and the Police to manage the traffic flow, assist with the crowds, and they even helped to pack the food. The Wardens being local and culturally aware were able to calm stressful situations as they arose by supporting amid the language barriers and cultural differences to complete this beautiful kaupapa.

Ane Karika-Nuku, a Kaiawhi Whaiaro from the Manukau Māori Wardens said, “That’s what we do “Aroha ki te tangata” – “Show love, compassion and kindness to all.”

The Temple was very grateful for the mahi that was accomplished.

Thematic analysis was carried out on the qualitative data which asked the recipients to provide a brief on why they needed the food parcels. Common themes that emerged from this data included:

• Vulnerable elderly, pregnant women, solo mums who had recently given birth, people with a disability or chronic illness who were unable to travel. It also included family members who had to stop working as they cared for vulnerable people in their households and those who had to self-isolate and weren’t getting paid.
• International visitors including students who do not receive any Government benefits or were left stranded here and didn’t have a 'Plan B', spending a lot of their funds in temporary housing like hotels and motels.
• Financial hardships due to loss of income and jobs, people unable to pay bills, large families, inadequate money from Work and Income, a family member mentioned that they only had $73 left after paying for essential bills.

To date, the ISSO Temple with the help of local volunteers has distributed over 2,000 food packages from member donations, Masters Produce and Pak n Save Ormiston. They have received over 400 requests for food parcels to be delivered to homes of vulnerable people who aren’t able to physically access a food bank.

The Temple now takes online orders for people in need, who want food bags. The Manukau Māori wardens have offered to assist with deliveries, they help whanau access and fill out the online orders.

Community Advisors Denise Takinui and Lesh Dhesi have liaised with both organisations and are working alongside community groups in South Auckland with similar community building initiatives.