��һ�ǿ�����

An old  community dining hall has been transformed into a “purpose-built” commercial kitchen and hall, now able to feed more than 75 hungry, homeless, and lonely people, and to cater to the rising food demand.

St Vincent de Paul (Vinnies) in , which also runs a food bank service, reopened a dining hall at 42 High Street, , today - replacing the old hall and temporary food truck on-site after construction.

The old hall used to be a petrol station in the 1950s, and it was “little and tight, and had an average kitchen” that was cooked in for about 20 years.

The idea for renovations came two years ago, and the building was demolished last May. Construction commenced in August, and the new hall was done “right on Christmas”.

Vinnie’s general manager Mike Rolton told the  that as the numbers grew for people needing food, it was a demand they “couldn’t keep up with”.

There’s a “lack of food, power prices are too high, and rent prices are too high”.

The new hall can fit over 75 people at once. Photo / Malisha Kumar

A community dining hall “isn’t just a meal for some people, it’s a social occasion”,Rolton said.

He started with Vinnies in 2010 and then, people would come by and eat and leave 10 minutes later. Now, people sit there and want to relax.

He said last winter was a real “eye-opener” and showed the significance for a place like this.

“It didn’t rain for our lunches often over winter but when it did, we had covers but we suggested to people to take a meal and go home and eat it. They still sat down in the rain and ate their meal and didn’t leave.

“Generally, it’s the only meal they get per day, and they’d rather talk to their friends and get wet rather than go home and get dry.

“It’s not just a meal ... they all sit together, they all chat, and they trust us enough to stay around and have long talks with people and us.”

He said another growing market of people needing food now is pensioners, and it’s a trend growing nationally and internationally.

Speaking to a friend from Vinnies in England, and then spending time in Australia last year, Rolton was told that those countries are experiencing the same thing: lack of food, power prices too high, rents too high, and pensioners going hungry and lonely.

That’s the reason why Hamilton has decided to do an initiative called “Least we forget” for pensioners.

“We deliver about 30 to 40 food parcels to pensioners every Thursday and Friday, and I had to double my drivers so they can spend at least 10 to 15 minutes with them, have morning tea and a chat.”

He said as well as for pensioners, the new facility opens doors for more initiatives to feed people in need.

“We do our normal lunches three days a week, but the plan is to also add breakfast three days a week and utilise the kitchen to make ... meals that we can store and deliver.

Vinnies community dining hall opened today on January 20, 2025 in Hamilton. Photo / Malisha Kumar

“We want to make sure that we utilise the whole facility we’ve got, in the best possible way to maximise everything we’ve spent to get return [on] all our money.”

Rolton said what began as a Vinnies’ project resulted in being a community one, with local businesses also coming on board to help design and fund the project which cost $1.8 million altogether.

The space in the hall allows them to cater to the growing demand of hungry people which he estimates will be “between 40 to 50″ per day.

“We’re also going to make about 300 to 400 heat and [eat] meals for pensioners a week which we can store and then deliver. So, they’ll get some meals and then extra from food parcels which means they don’t have to spend their money.”

He said he was excited for the opening today, but more excited for the people who access this service.

“The fact is we don’tactually judge people. We just let them have a place they can treat as their own and sit and enjoy it.”

Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.