
Bellyful Whitianga

Fran Jack
Co-Branch Coordinator
Hi, my name is Fran (short for Franziska). I live in a beautiful small community called Cooks Beach, together with my husband, Brayden, our daughters Sophie and Marie – and not to forget our lovely German Shepherd, Ted. Originally from Germany, I moved to NZ in 2012, to be with my now husband, after we met 1.5 years earlier when I was travelling NZ, as so many Germans do. I’m a teacher, but at the moment I enjoy the privilege of being a full-time mum!
Just after our firstborn daughter turned one year old, we left Auckland and came to Cooks Beach, which had been a dream of ours for many years. As much as we loved moving here, it also meant that we lost the last bit of family support. With my husband travelling a lot for work and no family around, I know how hard motherhood can be and I have certainly had my share of bad days.
After a dear friend of mine had a breakdown, I decided that something needed to be done to support mums in our community. I sent a message to some friends, Emily contacted me and told me about Bellyful and the rest is history!

Kate Cross
Co-Branch Coordinator
Kia Ora, I’m Kate. Mother of two boys aged 3 & 6. Both born at Christchurch Women’s Hospital. I underestimated how much help we’d need with a newborn baby first time around. Maybe that was because I was an older ‘geriatric’ mum who thought I had all bases covered, or maybe it was because of the traumatic birth we experienced. Regardless, people who just showed up with meals, or to do a chore were angels in my book.
We and hubby Nathan moved to Whitianga nearly three years ago. After moving to Whitianga I knew I wanted to get involved in the community, and when I heard about Bellyful setting up, it all seemed to fit. I joined Bellyful Whitianga for their inaugural cookathon. After a couple of years I took on a Co-Branch Coordinator role. We have a fantastic team here at the Whitianga branch and I feel humbled every time I work alongside them doing what we do for our community.
In my other life, I work full time as a strategic planner and hubby works part time as a senior science technician AND as a very hands-on dad. He is really the reason why I can volunteer for Bellyful!
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