Families needing food aid 'double'

BON VOYAGE: Captains Ralph and Nicky Hargest, of the Invercargill Salvation Army Corps, are moving to Wellington to take up new positions.

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Hungry families needing food handouts may have doubled in Southland in the past two years.

Captains Ralph and Nicky Hargest, of the Invercargill Salvation Army Corps, said they had noticed a 100 per cent increase in the number of people needing food handouts, from 60 families a month two years ago to about 120 a month this year.

Making a living was not getting easier in Southland but people were not as desperate as in other New Zealand cities, Mr Hargest said.

The perceived lower amount of crime was a good indicator that people were not as desperate, he said.

It was not at the stage where "people were burgling the place next door" just to be able to afford some food, Mr Hargest said.

Southland Food Bank Charitable Trust co-ordinator Ron Maynard said he had also noted an increase in the number of families needing handouts, which he attributed to a rise in the cost of living and the National Party coming into power.

The food bank had on average 158 families receiving food parcels each month this year, up 38 from last year.

The increase had not been as dramatic as the Salvation Army's, but was still significant, Me Maynard said.

"I think it is the times we are living in – since National (Party) come in it has got worse. That is one reason if you want to get political about it," Mr Maynard said.

Mr Hargest said the number of families that needed handouts had plateaued in the past month, and he attributed some of the previous rise to the increased promotion of the Salvation Army's services.

Mr and Mrs Hargest leave Invercargill this weekend to take up new positions as officers of the Wellington Salvation Army Church.

The couple have been in Southland for four years and planned to continue to promote Southland as a great place to live wherever they went.

New captains will next month take charge of the Invercargill Salvation Army Church.

scot.mackay@stl.co.nz

- © Fairfax NZ News