Community
A generous potato grower in Invercargill has donated 1.6ha of spuds to Able Minds to help families across Southland and Otago.
Able Minds chief executive Sarah Dowie said staff and clients will be having a team building day next Tuesday (October 24), to dig and harvest the potatoes.
They will then be loaded onto trailers and delivered to designated sites across Southland and Otago, including Dunedin and Alexandra.
The potatoes will be offered to the public from 9.00am on Thursday 26 October 2023 from the back of a trailer until they are gone. The public should BYO bucket or bag and provide a gold coin donation.
The designated locations are: Invercargill – Intercultural Church, 51 Centre Street; Dunedin – Able Minds, 2 Calder Street, St Kilda; Alexandra – Able Minds, 28 Ashworth Street.
“The cost-of-living crisis has affected many whānau across the district and potatoes are a versatile, nutritious vegetable that keeps tummies full, We are excited by this opportunity to help as many people as we can across the Otago/Southland region,” she said.
Because Able Minds can mobilise fairly quickly and get the potatoes out to those who need them, it was too good an opportunity to pass up, Sarah said.
Able Minds is a Charitable Trust with a mission to provide support to tangata whaiora who are affected by mental distress or addiction and their whānau in New Zealand.
The goal is to provide individuals with the strength, skills and support they need for a better life experience at home, at work and in the community both now and into the future.
Services include activity centres and peer support groups for those affected by mental distress, providing support and advocacy for the family and friends of a loved one affected by mental distress, wellbeing programmes for tamariki and rangatahi, a suicide prevention and bereavement programme and supervised contact for those whanau experiencing challenges associated with separation.
Able Minds has an office presence at Invercargill, Gore, Dunedin, Oamaru and Alexandra, offering a confidential, free and mobile service across the district, and people can self-refer on www.able.org.nz or 0800 494 262.