A South Auckland gym owner has taken it upon himself to feed those in need within his community during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Crush Fit owner Richie Leith Aholelei says he had started by providing fresh fruit and vegetables to families on the side, while the gym donated around $500 to the Salvation Army in Papakura.
But after learning that the local Salvation Army had closed, he looked for a way he could help his own neighbourhood.
“It’s the duty of myself to help, being a business in Papakura that the community can rely on,” he says.
Mr Aholelei drove around Auckland to gather supplies, even travelling as far as Rotorua to collect 2000 packs of Up&Go.
Each family that visited the food drive, held in the gym’s carpark, received their own food parcel consisting of a tray of eggs, a litre of milk, a loaf of bread and Up&Go.
Richie posted to local community pages to get the word out about the drive at 5pm yesterday and within 15 minutes he was met by “20 odd cars at least” in the carpark.
Within half an hour or so, he says they had completely run out of the food they’d allocated for the day.
While everyone was really appreciative, “the hard part was having to turn away families”, says Mr Aholelei.
More determined than ever, he was out again this morning sourcing food for the community, with a plan to continue helping to feed those in need in the future.
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