How Kaibosh continues to run during the pandemic, in south Wellington

Administration Team from Island Bay Presbyterian Church

Sara from Island Bay Presbyterian (IBPC) gives us an insight into how Kaibosh is operating during this pandemic..
"Kaibosh is still operating during 'lock down' as it is deemed an essential service, which it certainly is. During these times the vulnerable are needing help more than ever. The Kaibosh IBPC team are continuing to collect and distribute food to the community flats of Granville and Rintoul.
We have had many residents passing on their heartfelt thanks for what we are doing and many who are relying on Kaibosh to see them through the week. It is therefore a privilege and a blessing that we are able to continue. There are, however, some stricter rules applying at this time. No one can enter Kaibosh premises; Martin and his team are working very, very hard sorting all the food themselves and boxing into community groupings. We meet them at the door and they bring the pre-prepared boxes to us. Once at the community rooms we then need to sort the contents into 23 individual boxes and bags for Rintoul, for example, each according to family size. Of course, we wipe all surfaces with bleach first and wash our hands often. We wouldn’t help if we were sick, either.

Once the food is sorted we then hand deliver each box to each resident’s front door! (Normally there would be a central collection point) This whole process can take up to 3 hours, whereas before it was under an hour.

So I count Kaibosh as my gym class for the day! Wonderfully, the food is still coming through: yesterday we had to distribute an apple box full of plums, another big box full of grated cheese (which we had to put in individual bags), instant noodles, lots of bread and sweet bread treats, potatoes, a big bag of rice, lots of other fruit, bottles of milk, a box of scorched almonds and a few big tubs of cream cheese!"We've also heard that the Kaibosh depot are not able to have their usual large band of regular volunteers to do the initial food sorting, so Martin and his reduced crew are doing an amazing job adapting to the lock-down requirements.