Two of our newly appointed Whānau Ora champions, Piri Rurawhe and Brendon Pongia, were able to see whānau ora in action when they visited Rātana Pā in March.

The kaumātua and nannies from the tiny rural settlement had just set up their own foodbank for the families of locked out Affco workers. Thirty-six families in Rātana are without an income and food is short so the elders of Rātana took action, taking donations and often putting in money and kai from their own cupboards to help out.

The community has been behind this initiative and the local school has also put together fruit and vegetable parcels. Meanwhile up the road in Whanganui, help is there for more than two hundred other families locked out in ongoing industrial action. A foodbank centre has been established thanks to the local Māori Wardens providing space at their headquarters in Ingestre Street.