Founded in 2016, Food For Love is a charitable organisation which provides a free home cooked meal to people in need in the Wānaka region. Recipients are nominated by someone in our local community and are generally going through a challenging time, such as illness, bereavement, relationship or financial difficulties. Several of these challenges are often exacerbated by the Upper Clutha’s unique location, as many people have no family or other support around them here.

Food For Love’s vision is to nourish our community and nurture social connection through nutritious food. We aim to ensure that no one in the Wānaka region is without a meal if they need one. Our team of volunteers prepare nourishing meals from within their own homes and deliver these to our recipients. Bulk cooked meals are provided by another team for the elderly at weekends. All meals are delivered to our recipients homes. We work closely with our local Community Networks, Rotary groups, medical centres, churches, Plunket and local midwives.

In the year April 2021 – March 2022, we provided 4,866 meals to the Upper Clutha Community. We anticipate that this number will continue to grow, both as a result of ongoing inflationary and economic pressures across New Zealand, but also as our community’s population grows.