“When I went home, I pondered about what to do and as I went to sit down to eat my own dinner, I thought, ‘Wait a minute! If I saw six elderly without food, how many more people out there are going without?’

“That’s when the Adopt a Granny idea came to light.”

Shortly after, Ahu put a call-out on Facebook for people to either Adopt a Granny or to register someone, be it a whānau member, neighbour or someone they knew in need of support.

Ahu said the response from the community was overwhelming, both wanting to donate goods, but also to nominate an elderly person, with calls from as far north as Te Hāpua and as far south as Whangārei.

“The post received an amazing response, with emails flowing with interest to register grandparents, parents, neighbours and elderly,” Ahu said.

“Then the baking and cooking arrived in abundance, with fresh muffins, fruitcake, cookies, as well as an excess of 50 cooked meals, it was amazing.

“We now have more than five days worth of meals for each of our elderly people, so we have so much appreciation for the community and for our mayor, Moko Tepania, who gave us $2500 for kai, which is a huge blessing, as we have no funding.”

Ahu said for now, the volunteer-run service was currently open to all elderly across Kaitaia, with the view to expand as demand and capacity grew.

The service is strictly limited to delivering groceries and performing the welfare check, which involved getting to know either the “Nan” or “Koro”, building rapport with their primary caregiver, and understanding things such as their dietary requirements, social interests, etc.

If there was the need and consent was received from the elderly person, requests for personal care and other social services would then be directed to Te Hiku Hauora.

Ahu said all volunteers and elderly were required to go through an initial visit and consult and reiterated the programme was open to all.

“One question I could see coming, which I embraced, was if the service was only for Māori and respectfully no, it’s not,” Ahu said.

“I knew that would come because I’m Māori, so that’s why I didn’t call it “Adopt a kuia or kaumātua” because I wanted people to know this was for anyone, Pākehā, Pasifika, anyone.”

To express your interest as a volunteer kaimahi, to register an elderly person or to donate food or groceries, email: adoptagranny2024@gmail.com.

To contribute financially, donations can be made to Kaitāia Whānau in Need, account number: 38 9006 0083872 06 or to the shopping account at the Kaitāia Pak’nSave front counter.