Pop-up social supermarket opens for Christmas
Foodstuffs North Island is supporting the launch of a dedicated pop-up social supermarket for families facing cost-of-living pressures, operating as part of the Kindness Collective’s Christmas Joy Store.
The pop-up social supermarket, which is called Te Harikoa Mākete, has been set up through a partnership between Foodstuffs North Island and the Kindness Collective, giving referred families access to Christmas kai and pantry staples at a time when many households are under strain.
Now in its fifth year, the Joy Store is New Zealand’s first social toy store, giving referred families the ability to choose new gifts for their children at Christmas.
The pop-up social supermarket will help thousands of whanau this Christmas
Foodstuffs North Island Head of Social Supermarkets, Willa Hand, says the co-op’s partnership with the Kindness Collective reflects its focus on improving access to food support in ways that uphold dignity and choice.
“Families referred to the Joy Store will now be able to select a trolley of Christmas kai and pantry staples from the pop-up social supermarket, as well as choosing gifts for their tamariki. December places real pressure on household budgets, and this partnership enables us to support more families at a time when it’s needed most.”
Kindness Collective Founder and CEO Sarah Page says demand for support has increased significantly over the past year.
“Our food bank has seen a 336% increase in the volume of food distributed through our Everyday Essentials programme compared to the previous year. Since 1 April we’ve supported 33,803 people with food and more than 28,000 children with winter essentials. We expect high demand for Christmas support again this year, with more than 2,000 families already booked in for the Joy Store and thousands more on a waitlist.”
The pop-up social supermarket is a new addition to the Joy Store this year
Supporting families across Aotearoa
From 26 November to 19 December, 3,000 referred families will visit the Joy Store to choose gifts for their children. The Kindness Collective also partners with 289 organisations across the country, including NZ Police, hospitals, social services, marae, schools, early learning centres and Mitre 10, to deliver toys to 10,000 children in 91 towns across 17 regions.
Alongside gifts, the pop-up social supermarket will provide families with food and festive items to help them prepare for Christmas Day. More than 1,000 volunteers help source, sort, stock and distribute items throughout the initiative.
How to help
- Those who are able to support the Joy Store and the pop-up social supermarket can do so through:
- Donations to help provide gifts and food for families: https://www.kindness.org.nz/
- New toy donations at participating Mitre 10 stores from 12 November to 14 December.