Lorna Gower knew Abigail Packer was worthy of being a Kiwibank local hero medalist and didn’t hesitate to nominate her.
“She’s hard-working, strong, decisive and unwavering in a good way. She sees the vision and goes for it,” says Lorna.
When Abigail got a phone call last week congratulating her on being one of the three local medallist’s, she was thrilled for Kai with Love, the charity she leads.
Kai with Love gives away around 6 tonnes of food a week to 700 households. It started just two and a half years ago and for a time Abigail turned her home into a food depot delivering in her husband’s prized Falcon.
“Once we had a great wall of fish. Over six feet high and eight feet wide, 1400 boxes of fish and all gone within a few hours,” says Abigail.
“We outgrew the Falcon, we outgrew our lounge, and we outgrew the whole house,” says Abigail.
Her husband bought her a van for deliveries and they now use Richmond Community Church as their base.
“It’s God’s work. He goes ahead of us and we just step into it. We never got eggs for the longest time, so we prayed. And then we got eggs! One week we got over 7000,” she says.
Abigail is quick to point out it is a community effort. She says there are some very respected businesses involved with the charity.
“I’m getting a medal and I wish they gave me 150 so I could give them out to all our suppliers and volunteers,” she says.
When Abigail texted a volunteer to say thank you for her help, the lady texted back saying, ‘Abigail, I do it because it does my heart good.’ Abigail says that is why they all volunteer.
Using food to raise money for others isn’t new for Abigail. At seven years old she had a stand called ‘The Hospital Helpers.’ She and friends made drinks to sell and gave the money to the hospital.
Caring for her husband who has Parkinson’s disease means she needs to be home a lot now. But that doesn’t mean she does less. She is busy day and night keeping Kai with Love running so 700 families will receive a food box again next week.