Food banks are bracing themselves for increased demand over the next four weeks, as the country goes into Covid-19 lockdown.
A volunteer sorts food at the Auckland City Mission. File image. Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson
Some say they're already had more people coming in for help over the last few days, leaving their stocks seriously depleted.
And they're having to juggle how they'll continue to provide services - and restock - while complying with the rules.
Lisa Nepia helps keep some of Hamilton's community food pantries stocked up.
She said panic buying in supermarkets had been very stressful for people like her who were on a benefit or low income.
"For the cheaper items that I go for, for instance a $2 bag of coffee, there was none, so the next option I had, which a lot of people are probably experiencing on a budget was coffee for $5 and it was like, I can't do that."
That's one of the reasons why food banks around the country are expecting increased demand over the next few weeks.
Welfare and social service providers have been deemed an essential service, so will continue to operate during the lockdown period - albeit in a different way.
- If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP - don't show up at a medical centre
The Salvation Army's Gerry Walker said from the end of today, all of their premises would be shut.
But he said people in need would still be able to contact them by phone for help.
"If it requires something like a food parcel we will endeavour within the resource we currently have and you will appreciate there is an increased demand on our foodbanks, we are starting to run low on food."
There had been a significant run on the organisation's foodbanks over the last three or four days, leaving its stocks seriously depleted, he said.
And the Salvation Army was anticipating extra demand for food parcels over the coming weeks.
"We are working to replenish, we are talking with central government, we're talking with our donors and so forth to see about getting extra stock in - that takes time."
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Auckland City Missioner Chris Farrelly was expecting a similar spike in demand.
Those in particular need were people who had lost their casual or low-wage jobs and didn't get redundancy payments.
Farrelly said the mission was taking a careful look at its food stocks.
"What we have in storage isn't large, and so we know we're going to need access to ongoing bulk food supplies into our distribution centre, so that's a piece of work underway at the moment."
Age Concern Auckland chief executive Kevin Lamb said it was especially important to look out for older people.
It was likely many more elderly people would feel isolated and lonely, and some would struggle to do basic things like getting groceries, he said.
"I think this is then probably compounded by the fact that if you talk to some of the supermarkets now, there's a two-week wait time for home deliveries.
"What we're finding is that for a lot of older people, they really are now concerned. It's not so much that they can't afford food or have the means to buy it, they simply physically can't get it."
Lamb said Age Concern was working with supermarkets to see if older people could be prioritised for deliveries.
But he was also urging people to help others in need in their communities by offering to pick up their groceries or dropping off a meal.
