A south Auckland food share run by Dave "Buttabean" Letele has been targeted by thieves leaving him worried about the vulnerabilities of other charities.
Letele, well-known for his free boot camps and motivational programmes, revealed during a video posted to Facebook on Sunday afternoon the food service in Manukau had been burgled.
He told Newshub $7000 had been raised to replace $10,000 of stolen goods the thieves took.
Police said they were notified of a burglary at a foodbank on Hobill Avenue at around 4:40pm on Sunday and are making follow-up enquiries.
"A staff member arrived at the scene and found the premises had been broken into and a number of boxes containing food have been taken," a police spokesperson said.
Letele told AM on Monday thieves emptied the food share's cool room and freezers.
"They've targeted all of the meat which is the most expensive thing that we buy," Letele told AM co-host Ryan Bridge.
"We buy this, this is not donated. We have to buy it, we only get a portion of funding from the Government, the rest of it we have to cover to make sure we're giving families good food, good kai."
Letele said he was heartbroken when he heard his food share had been burgled, but worries about other charities.
"So when I got the call yesterday, it's just like a massive kick in the guts and just sick to my stomach," he said.
"The worrying thing is I never would have thought a food bank would be a target, and if this happens to other smaller groups without our profile, this would be enough to send them over the edge and then the families they're supporting, where are they going to go?"
Letele said it was more than one person who robbed the food share, which will cost families the opportunity to eat this week.
"I just hope they really needed it and it but if they did, they didn't have to take it all. This is going to cost families that we would normally help today and tomorrow," he told AM.
"There's going to be kids now missing out. Thankfully, we've been having some donations come through that we can go out today to replenish to refill these freezes, but it's just a really sick feeling that someone has done this and there are really no words that I can describe it."
The burglary left Letele "disheartened" and believes the thieves were most likely people who he had helped in the past.
He believes poverty is getting worse in New Zealand.
"It's getting worse and the pool of people is getting bigger. I worry every day and people say, what are you worried about? I worry about everything. It's health, poverty. All of these things are connected and it's only getting worse," Letele told AM.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern conceded the incident highlights work still needs to be done to support the country's most vulnerable.
"I can't explain how someone would choose to target a food bank that is there to provide for others in that way. I just can't," Ardern told AM.
It follows claims by the Government that independent research suggests there are now fewer people living in poverty.
Ardern said there are 145,000 fewer children in hardship through COVID-19 than were through the global financial crisis.
She told AM on Monday there needs to be a consistent investment to lift kids out of poverty and to keep them out.
"But I am proud that over the last nine years we have started to reduce those measures … that shows those who are self-reporting on whether or not they have the basics to get by, those who are reporting that they don't have decreased," Ardern said.
"But again, there are still people doing it tough and I'm not diminishing that and we do still need to work with those who are working with those families to keep reducing down those numbers."
Auckland experienced another night of crime with five youths arrested after four food outlets were targeted on Monday morning.
Watch the full interview with Dave Letele above.
