Jan Tinetti Labour MP

We live in a great city full of kind and generous people. During my time as a local principal I was always grateful to the people who gave so generously of their time to help the children at my school; from hours spent reading with the kids, to helping out at our breakfast club serving up bowls of Weet-Bix and putting butter and jam on toast, to donations of blankets and clothing to keep kids warm during winter.

That kind and generous spirit permeates right through our community and is always on display – especially now when Covid has been so tough on many. One of the greatest concerns that Covid has brought has been around food security and making sure people have enough food for themselves and their families. Two organisations that have worked tirelessly during this period, and for many years prior to the Covid outbreak, are the Tauranga Foodbank and Good Neighbour.

Last week I visited Nicki Goodwin and the team at the foodbank just to check in with how things are going as we continue to prepare for the Omicron outbreak. What I found was a very well prepared team working hard, making up food parcels and making sure the shelves are well stocked with the many volunteers giving generously of their time to help fellow residents. They are running short of some essential items so I said I would put the word out. They need more of the following: rice (bulk bags), canned goods (spaghetti, baked beans, tomatoes, corn), cereal (300 gram boxes) cup of soups, muesli bars, crackers, milk (UHT 1 litre), toilet paper, nappies (16kg +). Goods can be dropped into their depot at Brook St, Fraser Cove, Parkvale.

Last Saturday I headed down to the Lifezone Church in Judea where locals were loading up containers of supplies for our friends in Tonga who have experienced severe hardship after last month's volcanic eruption and tsunami. A huge thanks to Clayton and the team at Quadrant Shipping and their parent company Swire Shipping, who provided the containers and are coordinating their travel to Tonga. Great work!

So I think it's fair to say when things get tough, the people of Tauranga get out there and help each other.

On another positive note it was great to see the opening of the retail shops on the ground floor of the Elizabeth Towers, including the very welcome return of Farmers to the CBD after more than two years away. What a magnificent store it is. We all know that our CBD has gone through some tough times during the last few years and many see this as a new and positive beginning for the CBD. Judging by the number of people in Farmers on their opening day I think they are right. I just want to acknowledge too all of the retailers who have managed to stay in the CBD and I'm hopeful good times are ahead for you all and for the CBD.