TV presenter’s foodbank cuts 500 families as times get tough

A foodbank run by boxer turned TV presenter Dave Letele is in crisis after failing to attract state funding and has had to cut 500 families from its free food parcel service .

Letele, the 2022 Kiwibank Local Hero of the Year, says his South Auckland-based BBM FoodShare can now only assist 200 families a week, despite huge demand for its services.

"We are in a very, very tough space," he said. "I have considered closing it down … but I just can't bring myself to do it. So I have to pivot."

That pivot is the launch of a recruitment agency - BBM Recruitment - which aims to provide jobs and wraparound support to people returning to the workforce.

Letele is also making a public pitch to take on the government's proposed new 'bootcamp' programmes for young offenders, saying the traditional bootcamp model doesn't work, but a more sustained version would.

Letele established BBM after turning around his life - and losing over 100kg - by making a series of celebrity boxing appearances as "Brown Buttabean".

He now runs community gyms in west and south Auckland, a community kitchen in Manukau and a "social supermarket" in Tokoroa, as well as the foodbank, BBM FoodShare, in Wiri, South Auckland.

Letele said the foodbank, at its peak, helped 700 families a week and cost $1 million a year to run, but in full operation, could potentially help a thousand. He had reduced staff from three to two, and cut back food supplies to schools and community groups.

He said the Ministry of Social Development (which also funds two staff members at the gym) gave them $90,000 last year, but this year, the foodbank and social supermarket received "zero from the system" and was reliant on donations and corporate support from Meat the Need, Foodstuffs, Sanitarium and NZ Food Network.

It was, he said, "a constant hustle".

Letele said a lot of funding and programmes had closed post-Covid and he knew of other foodbanks which didn't enjoy BBM's media profile that had been forced to cut hours or close completely.

"The demand is never-ending," he said. "There is no light at the end of any tunnel. It is relentless, and it is depressing, and we cannot do any more than we are doing. A lot of it now is self-funded, so we will go broke.

"We have an online fitness programme that makes money, and that stays in the business to keep the day-to-day of the foodshare and [the gyms] going. Every day we are turning people away. We have to. It's f....... hard."

Letele is also aghast at suggestions from Act's leader, David Seymour, that cuts could be made to free school meal provision, saying BBM saw a huge spike in demand during school holidays because families struggled to feed their children.

Letele's latest initiative, BBM Recruitment, started this week with an initial five candidates and two supportive companies, Rubbish Direct and traffic management company Chevron.

Letele said the aim was to be a "genuine hand-up".

"We will get you a job, but support you," he said. "You don't just get on your feet when you get a job, it takes a while. But I don't want our people settling, working in a warehouse for the rest of their lives, so let's get you a job because you need it, then what's your dreams, what's your goals, and we will help you train."

He's also willing to pitch to the government to take on their planned military-style "bootcamps" for wayward teens, although he's pessimistic about both the idea's chances of success and the government having any interest in his involvement.

He said a programme that worked would last longer than 12 weeks, and be an intensive, wraparound service. He would leave those enrolled at their homes, but incorporate lifeskills and health eating classes, social support services and a fitness-led programme designed to improve their resilience.

Among Letele's employees at BBM are the former Warriors rugby league player Manu Vatuvei, who served prison time for drug importation, and the former radio DJ Nate Nauer, who was jailed for money laundering.

He said any programme would involve himself and Vatuvei, so they could see "people who have made mistakes but come back from them".

This story was first published by Stuff.