As part of the Foodstuffs South Island Trust, New World Timaru and Pak’nSave Timaru have donated $11,000 to Presbyterian Support South Canterbury’s Family Works Food Bank.
Family Works general manager Deidre Dahlberg said the donation was a lovely Christmas surprise.
"We’ll be putting that aside, especially for things like protein, for meat and things like that for families.
"That’s going to really help for Christmas and the New Year.
"Often people are sort of worried about Christmas but then we get to the new year and they suddenly realise they need a bit more."
She said monetary donations were particularly important because non-perishables were great to receive but other types of perishable foods were needed to alongside them.
"We get lots of lovely vegetables from Food Rescue and leftover stuff from people’s gardens.
"This money is really helpful for us to make it a really good meal packet for people."
"We have always been great supporters of the Foodstuffs Community Trust and they just do amazing stuff in the South Island.
"For this to actually go locally to the food bank at Christmas time is very special for the locals and for Family Works who do an amazing job not just for the food bank but also their other wraparound services."
New World Timaru owner operator Hayley Griffiths said they also ran a campaign called Family to Family.
"Our customers can donate food parcels and we bring them along to Family Works and then we have cash donations as well.
"It’s part of that campaign that happens around April, so this is just coming now, that’s kind of flowed through and now we’re getting another cycle."
Mrs Dahlberg said food banks were now more important than ever.
"Unfortunately, the cost of living is making it so.
"I’d love to see a change to how we tax our food."
She said the way food was taxed in New Zealand often exacerbated difficult conditions for families.
"It’s tough on everyone with just the changes and the stresses, higher unemployment, that sort of thing.
"We get a lot of seasonal workers and we also get families who are working really, really hard but just can’t make ends meet all the time because they’ve got school costs and other costs just piling up."
The Family Works Food Bank will close tomorrow and reopen on January 6.
