The initiative was held at St Matthew-in-the-City, and the event aimed to assist those facing homelessness and food challenges.

Morgan McCann, Head of New World for Foodstuffs North Island, and Steve McClean, Owner Operator of New World Orewa, cooked a three-course dinner for 150 guests at St Matthew-in-the-City.

The duo, with community support, raised over $57,000 specifically for the Auckland City Mission.

The entire Cook Off event contributed a commendable $246,000 to the Mission's cause.

"The Mission can only help people in greatest need with the support of our community.

"Morgan and Steve's commitment to raising funds through the Cook-Off and their ongoing support of the Mission are outstanding. I'm so grateful to the two of them for stepping up to help in this way," says Missioner Helen Robinson.

McCann who had never cooked for 150 people before, said he initially found the experience rather daunting.

However, by the end of the night and by working alongside renowned chefs Petra Galler, Michael Meredith and Mike Van de Elzen, he'd gained newfound insight into the work of a chef.

More familiar with cooking for groups, McClean, who enjoys giving back and supporting the local community described the experience as "truly humbling'.

Foodstuffs is the co-operative behind PAK'nSAVE, New World, and Four Square supermarkets in the North Island.

Source: Scoop

The new building will have a community cafe, a social supermarket and 35 housing units designed to accommodate and care for people experiencing chronic homelessness. Read more

The story caught the attention of Rev Caro Willis, the Chaplain at Chilton St James School in Lower Hutt. Her Year 6 students had gathered quality used clothing for their Palm Sunday service earlier this year, but the clothes now sat in storage whilst they waited for an opportunity to donate them to the right place. Read more

Murray Edridge is the first not-ordained missioner to lead the charity in its 114 years, and the first in two decades to also assume the chief executive role. Continue reading

The shoes are nearly new, as they have been returned to Shoe Clinic under the store's 30-day guarantee, and cannot be resold.

This is the second year the Shoe Clinic has made such a donation, but at 255 pairs of shoes, it nearly triples last year's effort. Continue reading

Auckland City Missioner Diane Robertson said the mission was desperately short of the donations it needed to provide emergency food parcels and presents to families in need.

The mission projected it needed to raise $1.3 million, and so far $430,000 has been donated.

The mission sees around 300 families each day in the lead up to Christmas, but more people were still waiting. Continue reading

Donations can be made online at becomesomeonesangel.co.nz or by phoning (09) 303 9200.

• Food parcels distributed by the mission have risen from 7706 in 2009 to 11,349 in 2014

• Emergency housing assessments are up from 37 in 2009 to 899 in 2014

• Value of basic furniture provided to families in desperate need has risen from $130,243 in 2013 to $178,044 in 2014

Each day a giant lever will open individual doors to the 12m-high calendar at Silo Park to reveal a Kiwi Christmas scene. Local businesses, artists such as Dick Frizzell and school children are contributing to the project.

The Advent calendar will sit beside the base for the Auckland City Mission Christmas campaign. The organisation will pull the last lever on December 25 and plans to host children at the park for fun activities before the annual dinner for 2500.

Waterfront Auckland is co-ordinating the project.

Chairman Bob Harvey said the calendar would be part of a Christmas trail that moves up through a lit-up Beaumont St, crosses over to the Telecom Christmas Tree in Victoria Park and winds its way up the decorated homes of Franklin Rd.

"It's a gift from Auckland to Aucklanders and I encourage everyone to come down to see what will be a magnificent artistic creation and to pause and reflect on what Christmas means to them and how they can give back to the less fortunate."

Source

• The New Zealand Herald
• Image: Campbell Live

"Basically we sell the products online, people go on and buy the products, and at the end of the month all of the products that have been purchased [on the online food bank] are given to the city mission itself," Fundy co-founder Tanerau Tuuta says.

The past two months have seen goods donated to the Auckland and the Wellington city missions. This month the products bought will be given to the Christchurch City Mission.

Tuuta set the website up with a friend about a year ago to assist charities with raising funds online.

Source

• New Zealand Herald
• Image: Kaibosh

Wellingtonian of the Year and former City Missioner Father Des Britten said there was no doubt things were getting worse.

Unfortunately in today's world it was up to each person to pull themselves out of a bad situation, he said.

Father Britten had been in the unique position of serving up food to both Wellington's wealthy, when he owned top restaurant The Coachman, and to those down on their luck while at the Wellington City Mission.

"It is up to individual responsibility and at the mission we tried to help people to help themselves because you're never going to be happy living on a benefit."

City Missioner Susan Blaikie said she had previously worked in the corporate world where beneficiaries were seen as bludgers.

"But I don't know anyone that actually wants to be on a benefit. The bigger the gap is between the richest and the poorest, the more likely there will be social problems and crime."

The Reverend Blaikie had spent the last decade working with the church and said the issue was worse today than ever before.

She was concerned that no major party had produced a serious policy this close to the election.

The Salvation Army's social services spokesman, Major Campbell Roberts, said he had seen the gap grow over his 40 years there and in recent times more people were worse off.

"Even over the last two years there has been a significant increase in people coming for welfare services. At the same time you've got salaries at a level which have increased significantly.

"This is most probably a reasonably recent thing over the past 15 to 20 years."

People who had a long history of working and contributing to society were losing their jobs and more families were struggling for the basics.

At the Catholic charity St Vincent de Paul, national council chief executive Anne-Marie McCarten said more government agencies were referring people to charities. Read more

• Source: Sunday Star Times
• Image: The Dominion Post