Another community collaboration has helped ease the lot for some of Cambridge’s struggling families.
The Salvation Army’s Foodbank was recently given a donation of meat valued at $2000 and purchased through the combined efforts of the Cambridge-based Freemasons Alpha Lodge No 81, Café Oasis, and Pak ‘n Save Te Awamutu.
This was the third such collaborative effort linking the trio. It started as a project picked by the then Lodge master Doug McWatters for his year in office and quickly drew in Café Oasis’ owner, Kon Kaewpraparn. Lodge members regularly supported her business, and she wanted to build on the activities she already did to help the community.
Kon donated a portion of the $700 profit from the Lodge’s Valentine’s Day shindig at the café, the Lodge rounded that up to $1000, and The Freemasons Charity doubled it – making for a final amount of $2000.
Te Awamutu’s Pak ‘n Save store manager Nick Hewlett offered his best price on the deal, then accessed and split the meat into 400 packs made up of 500g each of either mince or sausage.
Alpha Lodge collected the packs and distributed them to the Foodbank last month.
All of those involved said they would be happy to continue the collaborative project into the future.
Salvation Army community ministry co-ordinator Julieanne Seath described the group’s donation as ‘immense’ in terms of what it means for the Foodbank.
“We have noticed that donations going into our donation boxes in local supermarkets are not as plentiful as in the past, which means we are more reliant on support from the community,” she said.
“We get a certain amount of support from the [Salvation] Army and must raise the rest in other ways. The generosity of Alpha Lodge, Oasis Café and Te Awamutu Pak ‘n Save is of immense value to us. Meat is one of the most expensive items a family will buy, and this will make a real difference to so many people.”
Alpha Lodge No. 81 members Scott Wallace, left, and Peter Colebourne, and Café Oasis owner Kon Kaewpraparn, talk through their third successful project. Photo: Viv Posselt
