The Dunstan Community Whare Trust manages and maintains the whare at the school, where it is used for huis, tangis, education and other purposes.
The trust own 75% of the whare and the Ministry of Education the remaining 25%.
Dunstan Community Whare Trust secretary Louise McKenzie said when the whare was originally being built in the early 2000s, they did not have enough money to build a large kitchen or dining room.
The small kitchen and dining area meant when large events were held at the whare it was often a struggle to cope with the number of people.
"We have a crowd, and . . . we're under pressure and we do it, of course, but it will be nice to have the area more space," Mrs McKenzie said.
The whare trust hoped with a new kitchen they would be able to have the food preparation equipment that other whare and marae had.
"They have a steriliser and they have deep fryers."
Preparing food in the existing kitchen was very labour intensive, she said.
A new kitchen meant that they could try to upgrade it to commercial kitchen standards.
"One of the NCEA units is catering on a marae, so we can, they can ... teach them to cater"
It would also mean they could help Uruuruwhenua Hauora provide meals to kaumatua (elders) as well as large groups, such as sports team or kapa haka groups.
The grant from the Central Lakes Trust was an important milestone for the whare upgrade but construction could not start until all funds were raised, as the whare was on Ministry of Education land. As well as the Central Lakes Trust, Alexandra Rotary had donated, as well as members of the community, to help raise funds.
The whare trust hoped that with the grant from Central Lakes Trust other community groups would also approve grants and construction could begin soon, Mrs McKenzie said.
