Our food banks are always in need of food for individuals who are facing sudden, unexpected costs as well as facing job loss, health problems or vehicle repairs.

As living costs are everchanging, the demand for food increases. We often hear that people who come to us for food are worried whether they can feed themselves or their families, or they will be forced to choose between food and other life essentials. Food is most often the gateway to receiving help and receiving assistance through The Salvation Army’s wrap around services.

People from all walks of life come through the doors of The Salvation Army looking for help with food. We see many individuals, solo parents, small and large families and those who are in work and those who aren’t.

The services that The Salvation Army provides focus on offering a hand up not a hand out. Many people come to our foodbanks for a one off food parcel to get them through a rough week/patch, however for someone to receive food assistance for a prolonged period, they will meet with one of our Social Workers to assess what further support we can offer. 

Providing food parcels is just one of the ways The Salvation Army gives hope to Kiwis in need. When someone comes to us for help, we ensure that they are also provided with any of our other wraparound services they may need such as budgeting help, support with overcoming addictions, housing support, spiritual care and more.

We like to give the people who come to us a choice on what they would like and need in their food parcel. Majority of our food banks have adopted a ‘social supermarket’ which means that they can go around the food bank with a social worker and using a point system based on their needs they pick the food items that themselves and their family needs.

Our food banks have key non-perishable items such as canned food, rice, cereals and other essential grocery items. Fresh items such as fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy and bread are added before a client leaves with their food by our volunteers and staff. Hygiene, cleaning products and even pet food are available depending on the clients needs.

The Salvation Army is proudly supported by Woolworths, who supplies most of the food and other items that go into a food parcel. Each item that is donated for a food bank across New Zealand is purchased using your donations and packed from the closest Woolworths store. Woolworths then delivers these items to the food bank ready for them to be packed.

The food parcels are packed by a team of staff and volunteers from all walks of life. They include people who’ve previously received food or other help, members of community organisations and staff from varying businesses across New Zealand. In some places, people in community service also help to pack.

Donations are made to The Foodbank Project are delivered to The Salvation Army’s food banks across New Zealand Due to the incredible support of our donors, we are proud that we now have 60+ food banks offering support.

We are regularly updated by our Salvation Army food banks of the need they have in their local community, therefore the products available on the website are a reflection of this.

We also provide special occasion bundles to provide a treat that can be included in food parcels at particular times of the year including Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

Prices are subject to change and can be reviewed at any time. All products and prices listed on The Foodbank Project are sourced directly from the Woolworths website.

Where a product is discounted further by Woolworths at the time of purchase, it will be supplied to The Foodbank Project at the lower price with the difference retained by The Salvation Army as a donation to buy additional food for foodbanks. Woolworths also waives delivery fees on The Foodbank Project orders and gives The Salvation Army a discount on the price of each donated order, which is used to help meet the costs of The Foodbank Project.

Prices listed are reviewed quarterly to make sure they are as accurately priced as possible. Where a major price change impacts recurring donations, we will contact donors to seek permission to update their regular donations.

Please email us and we will give you a call to discuss setting up a recurring donation.

To donate food items through The Foodbank Project website you will need a debit or credit card. If you don’t have a credit or debit card and you’d like to support The Foodbank Project you can donate online to our bank account, please get in touch with our team through our contact form for more information.

To change any details on your account, please fill in this contact form and we will get in touch, otherwise please email us.

We will provide a summary receipt each year to all donors who make a donation in the tax year (April 1-March 31). This summary receipt will replace all individual receipts which you automatically receive after each donation made online.

If you have any problems with your receipt, please contact us through our contact form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

If you choose to donate cash instead of food product items, your cash donation turns into cash that our food banks can use to purchase food items that have not been donated.