By offering different food services we can reach people in ways that suit their preferences and comfort levels. For example, a sitdown meal with 60+ others doesn’t appeal to everyone. Kai Avondale also presents an opportunity to support whānau as a whole, with children coming to Breakfast Club, their parents shopping at Free Guys and/or buying a Foodtogether box, and then dining together at Feed the Streets.

Our Kai Avondale initiatives are generously supported by dozens of regular volunteers and donors each week, the majority of whom live, work or have another link to Avondale. This often means buy-in is strong, they bring their own ideas and want to connect with other locals. Some of our volunteers are dealing with challenges of their own and helping at Kai Avondale can give them a sense of purpose, and help build their confidence. Some have started out as meal guests or social supermarket shoppers before becoming volunteers themselves as a way to 'give back'.

We are also supported by a variety of organisations and businesses: Fair Food, KiwiHarvest, SuperValue Avondale, Catholic Social Services, Fonterra’s KickStart Breakfast and Kindness Collective regularly provide our initiatives with rescued or donated food; local schools and churches do food drives; the Whau Local Board support Feed the Streets; Shared Garden Space Avondale take our food waste and share their produce with us; we exchange food with local businesses Ol’ Mate and TwoTreats; TYLA Trust use their van to pick up food for us; and we often receive unsold or excess kai from Taste Cafe, Baker’s Diary, Foodsters, Baker’s Delight (Pt Chevalier) and other sources.