Commitment to reducing food waste
People are drawn to volunteering for different reasons. A desire to spend their free time meaningfully, to do good in their community, or because they feel passionate about a particular cause. Senri joined Kairos Food Rescue for all these reasons.
Senri found herself with more time on her hands after her tree-planting contract ended. Rather than sitting idle while she looked for work, she decided to spend some of her free time volunteering. She was drawn to the cause of Kairos Food Rescue and its commitment to reducing food waste.
“So many people can’t afford food right now, they can’t even pay their bills. It just doesn’t make sense to me to throw out all this good food that can still be eaten.”
As part of the warehouse team, Senri helps to sort and separate the food delivered by trucks. Her team assesses, categorises, and boxes food which then gets sent to different food bank groups to distribute to the community.
Senri sees keeping edible food out of landfills as a way to reduce environmental harm, especially given how much food waste isn’t treated properly.
“It’s really heartbreaking to see how much gets chucked into landfill. This food can be eaten so it feels right to be doing this and creating a more circular process.”
One of the appeals of the Kairos volunteer programme for Senri is flexibility. She can look at her month and sign up online for the volunteer shifts that work for her. She says this makes volunteering way more accessible for students or jobseekers who are less sure of their schedules.
“I would encourage people to just give it a go. You can do things at your own pace, it’s very flexible, and there is a lot of good coming out of it.”