Bellyful Volunteer Stories
The day Bellyful knocked on the door: Riika’s story
When a Bellyful volunteer knocked on Riika’s door during COVID, she thought she was simply receiving a few meals. Five years later, as Branch Coordinator of Bellyful Whitianga, Riika can see that knock gave her something even more important: connection, friendship and...
Celebrating Bellyful’s 2026 Heart Award recipients
Jacqui Jago and Pippa Wetzell (far right) were honoured for 15 years' service at the Heart Awards Dinner. Also pictured (L-R) Bellyful Founder Jacqui Ritchie, Board Chair Fiona Wilson and CE Sheena Revington. "The quiet force behind so much of Bellyful", "the glue...
A good deed in a weary world: Bellyful supporting families at Kidz First
At Kidz First Children’s Hospital in South Auckland, families arrive every day carrying far more than overnight bags. Some have travelled from Pukekohe. Others from Ōtara, East Auckland and across the wider South Auckland community. What they share is the same worry...
Cooking Up Community, One Meal at a Time
Volunteer Katie Arathimos first found Bellyful NZ while looking for a way to share her love of food around her family commitments. “I googled various volunteering opportunities involving food. It had to be local, in the evenings and on a monthly basis for it to work...
The Magic Ingredient
The joy that Bellyful meals deliver is the magic ingredient that’s kept volunteer Sharon Pittam giving her time and love to the charity for more than a decade. Sharon has been with Bellyful Auckland since the year it was opened, 2013. In that time, the branch has...
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...
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...
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....
Student’s scholarship year benefits Bellyful
For her scholarship exam in food technology, year 13 Carmel College student Courtney Adolphe was determined to do something to benefit families. The families Bellyful supports were just what she had in mind. Courtney Adolphe knows first-hand what a family in need...
Getting involved – At the heart of Bellyful
Hannah raised awareness of Bellyful when she shared this story with her colleagues and it was published on her work intranet – leading to more families being referrred to Bellyful.Most of us know that a newborn baby can mean sleepless nights, piles of washing and no...
Full circle for Bellyful – At the heart of Bellyful
“My second child came out screaming and didn’t stop,” says Fiona White of Bellyful, Napier. This led to both mother and baby being in tears at times but, “a friend referred me to receive some meals from Bellyful and I was extremely grateful.”“I’d never heard of...
Answering a need
When Kelly saw a need in her local community and a means to help, she jumped at the chance. Late November 2017, she opened the doors of Bellyful’s 19th branch on Hibiscus Coast, to provide the type of support that meant so much to her when she first became a parent...
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