A community advocate says he's grateful for the "absolutely unbelievable" outpouring of community support after the South Auckland food bank he runs was targeted by thieves over the weekend.
Dave 'Brown Buttabean' Letele posted an emotional video to Facebook yesterday, saying his food service in Manukau had been burgled.
"Our food bank has been broken into, our food share. Who the f*** breaks into a food share?" he said.
In the video, a fridge can be seen with empty shelves, with tomatoes left on the floor.
"When it happened, it was disbelief," the former boxer told Seven Sharp.
"When I came here and saw it for myself, I was just gutted, just really disheartened; just thinking, 'Why are we bothering?'"
Letele said coming across the scene made him feel like "someone had spat in my face and said, 'Stuff you, Dave'".
The founder of Buttabean Motivation says he hopes those who took from his organisation really needed it. (Source: 1News)
While he was left feeling "really, really sad" over the weekend theft, Letele said the outpouring of support they've received from the community has been "absolutely unbelievable".
"The silver lining out of it is it's really shown me how much people value our work and how important it is and the role that we play in the community.
"I really want to thank everyone involved... The level of support's been amazing."
Letele said while he understood that "times are tough and you're desperate", those involved in the break-in should have sought help from the food bank.
"The next time you are desperate, all you've got to do is come here and ask and we'll give it.
"These aren't shortcuts you're taking - what you've done is you've taken food out of kids' mouths and also if you get caught, you're going to be taken away from your loved ones that you're stealing food for."
It comes after a South Auckland food bank was raided on Sunday, with thieves taking thousands of dollars worth of food. (Source: 1News)
He said while he was left in doubt over what to do, "today we're still here and we're never going to give up".
"We're going to always be here for people in need, people who have fallen through the cracks."
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