We had an awesome day volunteering with the Pitney Bowes NZ team volunteering at Love Soup Hibiscus Coast Community garden and food storage. A volunteering opportunity inspired by Pitney Bowes dedication to food security and food security. 

In the last 3 years the Catalytic Foundation have conducted online research with our community partners to monitor the effect of Covid and the cost-of-living crisis on communities. Our findings are:

• 72% of charities have had an increase in demand - Food banks, mental health charities and those supporting youth and the elderly experienced the most pronounced spikes in demand for services

Financial poverty and inability to access food and basics was in the top 3 commonly stated needs that our charities noted.  Food security is essential for children and young people to be happy and healthy, learning and developing. Children living in food insecure households are less likely to consume nutritionally balanced diets essential for optimal growth and development, and this can have immediate and long-term negative consequences for their health and education. Household food insecurity has been associated with a wide range of child health and development problems from infancy through to adolescence.

In NZ one in five children are living in households where food can run out, and one in three are living in unaffordable housing, according to the latest child poverty indicators report.

Thank you to the Pitney Bowes NZ team for caring about education and food security in our communities