Kia ora!

Momentum Waikato is delighted to be a partner in The Mighty Waikato Cookbook project!

This brand new e-cookbook celebrates and promotes favourite Waikato food establishments, encourages local hospitality patronage as doors start to open again, and fundraises via contributing to our Greatest Needs Appeal to get food to the region’s most vulnerable during the recovery from COVID-19.

It is can be purchased for a donation – from $5 but the more the better – and downloaded at www.mightywaikatocookbook.co.nz [Deactivated May 2021]. A receipt and PDF download link will be sent to you.

You can recreate some favourite tastes at home and will be prompted to head to your local eateries to experience the rest of their menus!

How about donating what you would have paid for that favourite restaurant or café meal you have been missing? Or the cost of feeding a family for one day?

 The Mighty Waikato Cookbook is a celebration of food and community. How did it come about? 

The COVID-19 crisis has caused a veritable smorgasbord of food dilemmas and challenges.

For some it has merely been figuring out something creative for dinner, to put different flavours on the plate each night as the lockdown days stretched on.

For others, unemployment and a loss of income has made putting any kind of food on the table a challenge - there has been a huge surge in demand for food parcels and meals from community service providers, with many people finding themselves at food banks for the first time.

And then there are all the hospitality business owners who have had to close up and are now facing an unknown future, hoping their customers will return in numbers as soon as possible.   

Clearly, food can be a gourmet delight or a matter of survival, so the Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group, with support from Hamilton & Waikato Tourism, decided now is the ideal time to launch a regional fundraising promotional cookbook.

The Mighty Waikato Cookbook is a culinary journey around the Waikato, from the mountains to the sea. It is filled with over 50 delicious recipes from 40 of our region’s iconic restaurants and cafés, so there is something for everyone.

One hundred percent of every donation received for the e-cookbook goes directly to Momentum Waikato’s Greatest Needs Appeal, which is fundraising to accelerate and secure the delivery of food and winter essentials to locals in real need, partnering with Wise Group, Community Waikato and the Waikato Community Funders Group in a variety of ways. 

The ‘Here to Help U’ project, driven by Wise Group and Community Waikato and supported by Momentum Waikato and others, aims to provide easy access to assistance and meet the surge in demand for social services caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

The identified need is being met by a range of suppliers. The biggest single player is the large commercial kitchen at Claudelands Event Centre owned by the Hamilton City Council, which has so far produced over 25,000 meals and 2600 food parcels, distributed to those in need across the region.

Meanwhile, Wise Group’s Houchen Hub, a facility in the guardianship of Momentum Waikato, has also been producing care packages for vulnerable families. The team there has distributed 590 food parcels, 2650 frozen meals and 283 hygiene packs since the start of the crisis.

We have also been fully involved with the Waikato Community Funders Group’s decision-making and have been a part of the rural food-mapping team led by Community Waikato that has been identifying community needs and capacity challenges.

You can get your copy of this great new cookbook now at www.mightywaikatocookbook.co.nz [deactivated May 2021]. 

Thank you for your contribution to this fantastic project, and please follow the journey on Instagram @mightywaikatocookbook [deactivated May 2021].

 

A final word from Kelvyn Eglinton, Momentum Waikato Chief Executive

The Mighty Waikato Cookbook is a prime example of a successful collaboration between organisations to help our communities get through these challenging times. 

Linking with Momentum Waikato’s Greatest Needs Appeal ensures that every cent of your cookbook donation will go towards addressing real needs without delay - currently we are hearing this is food and winter warmth essentials. 

From our team at Momentum Waikato, and on behalf of hungry families, struggling hospitality businesses and the project’s partners, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support.