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A Rotorua food rescue charity has added extra hours for older customers to come and get food, as demand surges.
With so many people queuing up for Rotorua Whakaora's free supermarket, older people are finding it hard to get what they need amidst the rush for kai.
The foodbank is now dedicating Fridays to people aged 60 plus.
Elmer Peiffer, who founded the charity along with his wife Gina, told Checkpoint they noticed the long line of people waiting to get access to food.
"Some of them can bully to try to get into the front of the line, probably in the fear that they're going to miss out on something," he said.
"With our elderly, they were complaining a little bit about the behaviours of others, so we gave them their own day."
The supermarket operates two days a week, Fridays from 10.30am to 12pm being their day for people 60 years old and over.
For the general public, the supermarket is open on Sundays from 10.30am to 12pm.
"Our clientele is anybody who needs food. We do have beneficiaries, but we found there's quite a large number of working poor, those that have jobs but not enough money to be able to fulfil all their obligations," he said.
The demand for food had been increasing, he said.
"We find the working poor numbers are climbing a bit more than the rest of the people that are like, beneficiaries that are needing food," he said.
He said they got feedback from people standing in the line and they took all complaints very seriously.
"This is meant to be an accepting place, a place where there is no judgement. Where you can feel safe and secure and being able to access the food that you need or whatever we can provide."
Peiffer said when they got complaints they worked as a team to solve and create a solution - having a separate day for elderly was a solution to the bullying.
He said people getting anxious and bullying others over food was an indication of how desperate people were.
"We take a look at our numbers and average just a little bit higher to make sure that there's enough for everybody, so everybody gets the same."
"The people that do access it are quite desperate because they just can't afford to do a full grocery shop anymore," he said.
Peiffer said people have a predetermined view as to who accesses the free food service but many different people do.
The supermarket gets food from multiple sources, from different food outlets such as the Food Network, supermarkets, and a local bakery to meet with demand.
"The way that we operate is that we're a top up, we're not like your get your weekly shop here. What we we encourage people to do is shop for what they can with what they have and then top up with what we have."
