It's often the simplest things that hold a community together - that, of course, includes baking.
The Kitchen Fairies are a clandestine baking collective in Wairarapa that looks after those who need it most by showing they care. In these parts, they saw two cyclones in two months and found an opportunity to help those affected.
The fairies often remain anonymous when delivering their packages. Amy, Bex, and countless other volunteers have been helping out since the cyclones.
“We started cooking, people heard about it, and it exploded," Amy said.
“We had so many people, schools offering their kitchens and their children and classes cooking meals for us... Freezers around the district overflowed with food because people were being so generous.”
People from across the community offered to help in any way they could, she said.
“It was a bit of a snowball, they kept meeting a need, and they just kept rolling it out.
“You'd get the odd call, ‘I've got 100kg of mince, could you come and pick it up please?'
Bex said: “Some of my family and friends down in the South Island... sent us up Prezzy Cards and New World vouchers and said we want to contribute to what you're doing."
Now that the dust of poor weather events is starting to settle, they’re able to help people dealing with a range of good and bad life events.
“It's good things and bad things. The way the bush telegraph works is you hear of so, and so has gone in for an operation or so and so has had a death in the family, so and so has had a new baby,” Amy said.
To them, food is the best way to bring a community together.
“It's an ability to connect to people.
"We know that the biggest protective factor for people's mental health is connection — if food is a means to be able to do that, it's not just a meal. It's much more than that."
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