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The Star, <strong>October</strong> 9, <strong>2025</strong><br />
starnews.co.nz<br />
Flow turns struggle into service<br />
BY GEOFF SLOAN<br />
For more than a decade, Florence<br />
“Flow” Waaka has been<br />
cooking meals and offering<br />
warmth to those doing it tough.<br />
Waaka, 58, started Feed a Bro<br />
after being judged by others<br />
while seeking help to feed her<br />
family 10 years ago.<br />
“I was struggling on a benefit<br />
with a son and I was looking<br />
after my grandkids at the time,”<br />
she said.<br />
One of her friends told her<br />
a free food service was being<br />
offered in the central city.<br />
“So I went in, and all I could<br />
hear was people saying, ‘what’s<br />
that lady doing here? She<br />
shouldn’t be here, she’s got a<br />
car and she doesn’t look like she<br />
needs these feeds’.”<br />
She said just because she had<br />
a car, people assumed she was<br />
well off.<br />
“The free food we got during<br />
the week helped me and my<br />
family to survive.”<br />
The experience left a sour<br />
taste in her mouth, so Waaka<br />
decided to set up her own free,<br />
non-judgemental meal service.<br />
“I don’t judge anyone because<br />
I’m in the same boat as a lot of<br />
them. I really am.”<br />
Waaka organises free weekly<br />
meals at The Margaret Mahy<br />
Family Playground on Mondays,<br />
and in Cathedral Square on<br />
Tuesdays.<br />
She also takes food out to<br />
homeless people living in the<br />
Flow Waaka says about 30 people turn up for a meal each time she runs her free feeds.<br />
red zone.<br />
“It’s never really planned.<br />
Just whenever I can, wherever<br />
there’s a need.”<br />
She said the meals weren’t<br />
only for those sleeping rough,<br />
but low income people with<br />
families as well.<br />
“They’re for anyone that’s<br />
struggling. A lot of people<br />
are too humble to go to these<br />
feeds and won’t go when they<br />
should.”<br />
Known as ‘flowsfeeds’ on<br />
PHOTOS: GEOFF SLOAN<br />
TikTok, Waaka has built<br />
a strong online following,<br />
using social media to spread<br />
awareness.<br />
“It’s the only way I can keep<br />
this going – let people see what<br />
I’m doing to get more food<br />
“I get a lot of feedback<br />
every day. Most people<br />
love what I’m doing, but I<br />
also get a lot of hate too.”<br />
Florence “Flow” Waaka<br />
Our Great<br />
Volunteers<br />
CALL TO ACTION<br />
Do you know someone<br />
doing valuable work in the<br />
community? Send their details<br />
in 200 words or less to<br />
geoff.sloan@alliedmedia.co.nz<br />
donations.<br />
“I get a lot of feedback every<br />
day. Most people love what I’m<br />
doing, but I also get a lot of hate<br />
too.”<br />
She said some people don’t<br />
agree with what she does.<br />
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