Friends In Need - Fundraising

We established Friends In Need, a free community network, to help our elderly and vulnerable neighbours through the COVID-19 restriction period.

We started out match-making each person 'In Need' who contacted us with a volunteer 'Helper' in their immediate neighbourhood, to check in on them with daily phone calls and/or to do essential supplies shopping on their behalf.

However, we are increasingly receiving calls for help from people who need emergency food parcels. We have had referrals from Government and Council helplines who cannot fulfil requests quickly enough, and existing food banks are stretched beyond capacity. Many of the people contacting us have lost their incomes in the past weeks but face a long delay before their welfare requests are processed. Others are on benefits but just cannot make ends meet. They and their children are going hungry, and they are isolated and afraid.

Friends In Need must respond to this emerging crisis, and so we are asking our amazing community of supporters to donate to enable us to provide basic food parcels for these New Zealanders. We will simply be taking pressure off the existing food banks and charities, and supporting these families until their welfare payments come through.

Every dollar donated will go directly to buying food parcels. The money will go into a charitable trust account administered independently, and we will report back to the community as to how every donated dollar is spent.

More details will be available on our Neighbourly and Facebook community pages, and on our website www.friendsinneednz.com.