Bellyful Stories
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Nourishment at a time of need
A Bellyful Central Auckland recipient who received meals while her premature newborn was in Auckland Hospital shares her thanks. When our daughter arrived prematurely at 36 weeks, she faced challenges that led us to the NICU. After genetic test results and a...
From Grief to Gratitude
Cooking dinner can be the last thing on your mind when wading through the depths of grief. Bellyful made sure Dunedin whānau had some meals in the freezer to help through the dual emotion of losing one of their twins, and welcoming his brother. A close friend referred...
Bellyful volunteer a Local Heroes finalist
Congratulations to Bellyful Central Auckland volunteer Mhairi Freer who is a finalist in the Westfield Newmarket Local Heroes. Vote here Mhairi has been a Bellyful volunteer for seven years and we think the reasons she is so special are best summed up in the...
Why do you love volunteering for Bellyful?
National Volunteer Week 18-24 June 2023 honours the collective energies and mana of volunteers in Aotearoa. This year’s theme is Time to Shine – He wā pīataata. It’s a time to recognise and celebrate our volunteers and their time to shine – pīataata. A few of our...
“Don’t know what I would have done without Bellyful”
An Auckland mum says Bellyful meals were a lifesaver during the exhausting haze of life with a newborn. Nicole was referred to Bellyful West Auckland by a close family friend who was also expecting. They had been discussing how they would manage cooking after their...
One Less Thing to Worry About
Welcoming their twin boys at just 27 weeks was a tumultuous time for North Canterbury couple Heather and Matt. Bellyful was able to make things a little easier by delivering some yummy, freshly-cooked meals. Twin boys Mack and Monty were born via emergency caesarean...
Full Circle
When Sarah Kerby stepped up to start Bellyful Nelson in 2018, she could never have imagined that just a few years later the charity would be helping her own whānau through a gruelling journey. Early this year Sarah’s gorgeous four-year-old son Willy had a series of...
A grandma’s gratitude
Ten years ago my first granddaughter, my second grandchild, was born at Middlemore Hospital while her parents were living in Auckland. The pregnancy had not been easy and baby was born beautiful and healthy. After a few weeks, it became obvious that she was not...
Meant to be
Eileen Bray from Dunedin shares her Bellyful volunteering story for National Volunteer Week 2022. I went to visit my daughter after her third baby in Auckland. Sadly they ended up in NICU for a couple of weeks and then went home on Oxygen 24/7 . Bellyful provided...
A love of cooking
Annette Murray from Bellyful Franklin shares her volunteering story for National Volunteer Week 2022. I was inspired to join Bellyful as it involved cooking which is something I enjoy. It was even more interesting when I found out that there were simple recipes that...
Time to Breathe
After the youngest member of the Box whānau, little Mabel, spent a week in hospital, a delivery of Bellyful meals gave the Waikato farming family a chance to catch their breath. “I hadn’t cooked a hot meal in over two weeks. It was such a huge weight off our...
Getting Through COVID
Preparing meals was the last thing Aquila and her husband had the energy for when they were sick with COVID-19. Bellyful Christchurch was able to provide meals to help the whānau while they were in isolation. “My husband and I had COVID. We did not have energy to...
A Huge Help
Reaching out for help can be hard. But a Tauranga mum who was brave enough to refer her whānau, says the Bellyful meals were a huge help. Aimee* lives in Tauranga with her husband, their boys aged four and two, and their little dog. “I kept getting really sick from...
Reaching Out
The beautiful exhaustion of new twin babies was coupled with multiple hospital visits for Liz Buckley-Stokes. Bellyful meals helped ease the pressure. Liz, her husband and toddler had moved to a new North Canterbury town just two weeks before they welcomed their...
Meals where they are most needed
Warm meals are making a difference for often tired and stressed-out parents of babies in the Waikato Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Bellyful Hamilton volunteers have begun delivering stocks of frozen meals to the Waikato NICU. The Neonatal Trust has purchased...
Young at (Bellyful’s) heart
When it comes to volunteering, enthusiasm is a key attribute. It is something that can be found at any age, and it is generously found in the wide-ranging spectrum of ages of the volunteers at Bellyful Christchurch. The youngest volunteer is 30 and the eldest is 81....
The Business of Giving
Owners of bulk-food store The Source Taupō, Fiona and Ken Harris are no strangers to moving home. The Taupō-based couple, who met while working in Turangi, have relocated three times over their 11-year relationship – to Vancouver, Auckland, and most recently...
A Dad’s Story: Easing The Stress
Of all the things Daniel and his partner Beatriz planned for when expecting their baby, their beautiful son Marco being born at just 26 weeks and five days gestation was the last thing they imagined. Little Marco spent the first 97 days of his life in hospital. “It...
Welcoming twins under Covid-19 Alert Level 3
Laura’s family in the UK were due to fly out to support her with the birth of her twins in May, but COVID-19 threw a spanner into that plan. With New Zealand’s border essentially closed under Alert Level 4, her family members cancelled their travel. Laura and her...
A weight off the shoulders
Being a working parent can be a real juggle. Getting the kids ready for school, arriving at work on-time, making your way through that growing laundry pile after you’ve rustled up a half-way decent evening meal for the whānau. Things are pretty hectic at the best of...
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