Angels in the community

The WIS Angels are a team of budding chefs who give up a lunch break at Waimea Intermediate every week to cook meals for the homeless and anyone who could benefit from an act of kindness.

Under the guidance of their teacher, Jo Townsend, about 15 Year 7 and 8 students now supply a couple of meals each week for the Giving Aroha charity in Nelson that feeds the homeless and also work with The Big Bake Up in Wakefield that hands out care packages to brighten anyone’s day.

Last week they were in the kitchen preparing food for the school’s Matariki celebrations with pumpkin soup, fried Māori bread and a hāngī in stainless steel kai cookers on the menu.

Jo says the volunteer students making the manaaki kai (hospitality) parcels all love cooking and it’s a way for them to enjoy their passion, learn skills and give to the community.

Each week, Giving Aroha founder Jackie Galland joins the volunteers to cook the meals, including the couple she will hand out to the homeless in Nelson.

It’s usually good solid comfort food like mac and cheese with an apple crumble, and, if there’s leftover ingredients, there might be a pie or similar added to the parcels that go to Giving Aroha or The Big Bake Up.

“We give to people in our community and it may be a staff member or a kid who is going through something,” Jo says.

“The kids come up with suggestions of people to give parcels to.”

Among the students is one that hopes to open a bakery one day and at least one with aspirations to become a chef.

Ingredients cost money, so the WIS Angels also make up jars full of treats that they sell as ‘Aroha in a Jar’ to fundraise for their cooking.