Kia Ora,
Te Pūaroha, The Compassion Soup Kitchen, has been serving the vulnerable of Wellington
City since 1901 when Suzanne Aubert and the Sisters of Compassion started serving soup
through a sliding window in the kitchen of St Joseph’s Home for Incurables in Buckle
Street, right beside the original site of St Patrick’s College. Ever since then, Te Pūaroha has
moved twice, now situated at the top of Tory Street.
With the current Covid-19 pandemic, the whanau who are a part of Te Pūaroha are even
more vulnerable than they once were, and Te Pūaroha has seen a massive increase in the
number of people who have started to rely on it ever since the Level 4 lockdown began.
From the usually 6 days serving a free Breakfast and $2 Dinners, the Soup Kitchen has had
to readjust to meet the new demand of people needing something to eat. Now opening 7
days a week, but only serving 1 free meal a day, a ‘goodie bag’ as such of nourishing
foods. What used to be an average dinner service of 70 people has now increased to 170
people, a clear and sobering reminder as to just how many people have been severely
impacted by this pandemic.
We see God through the actions and deeds of the people around us.Te Pūaroha is a great
example of this, from the staff that are still working on site making sure that no one
goes hungry, to the patience and understand of the whanau relying on the service. Now
more than ever, the most vulnerable need services such as The Compassion Soup Kitchen,
but The Compassion Soup Kitchen need the love, compassion and generosity of Aotearoa
so they can continue to serve.
