During the 2023-24 year, volunteer cooks made 9013 meals, up from 1700 prepared in 2020-2021.
The charity, founded in 2016, is launching its second fundraising campaign, Plate Up For Love, to help pay the costs of preparing dinners for people in need.
The first Plate Up For Love campaign was held last year, supported by real estate firm Bayleys.
Local hospitality businesses offer a selection of meals on their menus and will contribute a portion of the costs of that meal to the charity.
Last year, nine restaurants took part. This year, 16 Wānaka hospitality businesses have joined the party.
Food for Love general manager Jodie Stuart said the exponential demand for dinners that had been witnessed over the past three years appeared to be stabilising.
Food For Love had doubled support from local businesses and increased operating hours to make volunteering more accessible, she said.
"The growth we have seen in the past year we attribute to the community education drive we have been doing to educate around what we do, to ensure that everyone knows who we are and that we are here if / when they need us," she said.
With the growth came a need for more space, so Food For Love recently relocated from Frederick St to Gordon Rd.
"Our previous facility was a storage unit with a concrete floor/walls and a roll-up door.
"It was approximately 48m2 and we stored our fridges, freezers and key pantry items here and the team worked from home.
"Our new premises on the ground floor at 21b Gordon Rd (the old Green Room) is approximately 85m2.
"In addition to the storage area for ingredients, there is a cosy volunteer lounge where volunteers can have a cuppa and catch up with other volunteers and a small office for the team to work from," Ms Stuart said.
The Gordon Rd building does not have a kitchen, though.
Many meals are prepared in the Upper Clutha Rugby Club kitchen while others are home-cooked in volunteers’ kitchens and delivered to people around the community.
Recipients of Food for Love range from those registered for Meals on Wheels or living on their own, to those nominated confidentially as going through a challenging time or with health needs.
Individuals and families are supported.
When Food For Love first began in 2016 it had about 10 volunteers.
Now the team has grown to over 170 and during the past year, volunteers have donated more than 8000 hours.
"Volunteers help us with everything from making meals, delivering meals, fundraising, governance, stocktaking and planning to everything in between.
"We are always on the lookout for more home cooks who have the capability to prepare a meal from home and then personally deliver it to a nominee," Ms Stuart said.
Home cooks were given ingredients and meal ideas and rostered for days and times that worked for them, she said.
In the year to March 2023, Food for Love raised just over $100,000 through fundraising, grants, donations and merchandise and once costs were deducted, had a surplus of just over $14,000.
Food For Love now has about 130 community partners. Key funders have included Central Lakes Trust, Sargood Trust, Queenstown Lakes District Council, Community Link and the Tarras Community Fund.
The Plate Up For Love fundraiser ends on October 15.
Numbers of meals
- 2020-2021: 1700
- 2021-2022: 5400
- 2022-2023: 8129
- 2023-2024: 9013
