In a town known for being affluent, growing financial hardships can go unnoticed.
However, over the past few years Wānaka’s Community Link has reported a significant increase in demand for their foodbank parcels.
Community Link chairman Ian Maxwell said this increase had been ongoing for a few years but spiked over the past two years.
"There’s a group of families who are struggling," he said, explaining that although they had a variety of clients in different situations, families were the most common.
He also said many of the families and individuals making use of this service made up the backbone of the community, working jobs in industries like construction and hospitality.
Many of the families in need were single parents struggling to make ends meet or families who had moved to Wānaka more recently.
Others who made use of this service had also either suffered an injury and could not earn their normal income or had a disability and their support payments were not enough for Wānaka’s high cost of living, he said.
Local group, Food for Love, has also seen an increase in demand for their services.
The organisation helps prepare meals for people who find themselves in circumstances where they are unable to cook for themselves due to disabilities, medical procedures or other circumstances.
General manager Jodie Stuart said they had seen a 93% increase in the nominations they received as people learned more about their services.
It was this greater local need along with the growth of the town that brought in Lily, a Kiwi Harvest food truck.
Kiwi Harvest is a national organisation based in Auckland, with trucks all over the country working with local charities to collect food from supermarkets and eateries and deliver to those in need.
Their trucks in Queenstown have been working with organisations such as Community Link and Food for Love to deliver food to Wānaka and the Upper Clutha for about two years.
However, as the region sees more need and welcomes more businesses, one of the Queenstown trucks named Lily will be making itself home in Wānaka.
KiwiHarvest Queenstown and Central Lakes branch manager Gary Hough said this was a great step in branching out to help families and rescue more food.
"So Lily is retiring in Wānaka and no more Crown Range Runs for her ... so she’ll be just for our local volunteers there to do the local collection."
He said they had several food donors in the region with the biggest being New World Three Parks and Woolworths in Queenstown. But they were actively looking for more donors.
"We’re really looking to get more food donors, so we can increase the food we rescue," Mr Gough said.
