$100k in 24 hours: Generous donors give last cents to replace spoiled frozen food

Just over 24 hours after community advocate Dave Letele revealed their South Auckland foodbank would not last to Christmas – after a freezer was turned off, spoiling stocks of frozen food – more than $100,000 has been raised by the public to help struggling families.
A Givealittle fundraising page set up yesterday morning has brought in almost $105,000 from nearly 1500 donors, as of midday today.
Many of those generous donations are from people who have been helped by Letele and the Buttabean Motivation (BBM) Foodbank or other health services – including free gyms and health programmes – in the past.
Several donations of anything from $1, $5 and $10 are accompanied by messages of love and the wish to give more.
Donor Jason, who gave $1.50, wrote: “I’m sorry. This is all I have in my account right now, whānau.”
Josie, who gave $5, said: “Sorry it’s not much. But you so deserve this.”
Another, Louisa, said: “Kia kaha! My heart broke when I saw your video, but I knew our community would rally for you. We don’t have much to give, but I know it all adds up. We support you – financially and in spirit. Never give up!”
On Tuesday, an emotional Letele – who founded BBM – took to Facebook to reveal that thousands of dollars’ worth of frozen meat and products had spoiled after a large freezer container had been deliberately turned off. A forklift next to it had also been vandalised.
“We can’t win, man,” Letele said at the time.
“How do you continue, you know? You do all this stuff and you just get knocked down again and again and again. I just can’t believe it.”
Early last month, Letele announced that the South Auckland-based foodbank – which supplies up to 1000 families a week – is closing down after Christmas.
The costs of running the foodbank could no longer be sustained, he told the Herald at the time.
But for now, he thanked members of the public, including local businesses, who had contributed to help save Christmas for many of the families they help.
“Thank you. There are no words that can fully explain how I feel right now. I’m so humbled by the way everyone has rallied around us,” he said.
“The way people have rallied around us, supported us, my phone has been going off, people have been coming up to me in the street – honestly, I’ve never experienced anything like it.
“It’s filled my cup. It’s filled me with hope again. I just feel so grateful.”
Letele said because of the donations – no matter how big or small – they would now be able to give those struggling families the Christmas they deserve.