Budgeting service flooded with desperate families in lead up to Christmas calls for charities' funding to be performance-based

December 20, 2019

Mangere Budgeting Services has been flooded with desperate families in the lead up to Christmas.

A South Auckland budgeting service which has been flooded with desperate families in the lead up to Christmas says Government funding for charities should be performance-based.

Māngere Budgeting Services has handed out more than 30,000 food packages this year, and the demand is climbing.

Families wait anxiously, with the food hamper and present for every child turning a non-existent Christmas into something special.

“It’s an overwhelming feeling and its really appreciated,” one client said.

On top of their existing clients, the charity has nearly 30 new families every day seeking help.

Two-thirds of the families who come to the budgeting service pay between 60 and 65 per cent of their income to private landlords.

“If you live in a state house, you're paying 25 per cent of your income and you are treading water. If you are paying 65 per cent of your income, the armbands no longer keep you afloat," Māngere Budgeting Services' Darryl Evans said.

One client, Margaret Perry, knows what it’s like to tread water. Despite working, the money doesn’t cover basic living costs.

“Still doesn’t make ends meet," she said. "When you got a big family like mine, more bills come."

The need is huge, but cash donations are down and New Zealand has more charities per capita than any other country in the world.

“We've got to do things smarter, so where organisations are constantly underdelivering, give them the opportunity to improve, but if they can’t, really pull the funding and give it to organisations who consistently deliver or over-deliver quality services,” Mr Evans said.

Māngere Budgeting Service was meant to close today, but will instead run a skeleton staff until Christmas to meet the demand.

So far, the service has already given out 650 Christmas hampers, with more urgently needed for the dozens of families waiting every day in the hopes of receiving one.

“It’s really appreciated because there's a lot of us who are struggling out there,” another client said.

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