Social dining initiative Temuka Tucker Time has reached a milestone, having now been serving up meals for over a year.
Originator Susana Lustig said the concept had ‘‘ created a community within a community’’.
Chilean-born Ms Lustig has lived in New Zealand for 44 years, the last two in Temuka.
After buying and restoring her home — in the original Temuka Library — she began looking for some way to ‘‘feel a sense of belonging’’ in her new community.
She enlisted fellow Temuka resident Odette Perry, and they set about providing a potluck-style dinner for up to 50 people a week.
She had previously wanted to provide meals for people who could not afford to have a healthy meal each week, but the dinners had filled a wider need than they had anticipated.
She said it had become quite a social outing for most people.
‘‘For some it is the only outing a week.’’
When the team had passed the year mark, she felt people had come to realise they were serious.
‘‘We’ve gained a bit of respect.’’
They had been through struggles in the first year, Mrs Lustig said. Feeding upwards of 45 people a nutritious meal on a ‘‘frugal’’ amount of money had been one of the challenges.
But, now people had realised it was a worthy cause.
Making the meals possible were regular donors Bernie’s Bakery, VIP’s Minimart and Cloverleaf Orchard, and organisers also received support from the Temuka RSA, Teapot Inn, Makikihi Fries, Silverfern Meats, Barkers, Kinsman Contracting and Stockmans Bakery. They also received financial donations and gifts of fresh produce and eggs from individuals in their community.
Ms Lustig said for Temuka Tucker Time there was ‘‘no other reward than to make another human happy’’. ‘‘A lot of people don’t realise the work that goes into it.’’
The cooking fell to two or three people, she said. Some of the guests and volunteers came from further afield. One volunteer had travelled out from Timaru until she was eight months pregnant.
While the dinners were running fortnightly at present, their vision was to return to weekly meals when they were ‘‘back to full volunteers’’. ‘‘When we started we had nothing; now we have a bank account. ‘‘We’ll just have to continue.’’
