A sold-out dinner as well as the Plate up for Love campaign in October raised $64,559 for the Wānaka-based charity Food For Love, marking the organisation’s most successful fundraising effort to date.
Featuring a peculiar butter bid, $54,559 was raised from the gala’s live and silent auctions.
Bidder and Food For Love volunteer Di Somerville initially bid $5000 for 10 blocks of butter.
Then the room came together and chipped in to reach the record total for 10 blocks of butter.
Ms Somerville donated both the money and the butter back to Food For Love — a charity which gives home-cooked meals to those in need across Upper Clutha.
"It was such a fun, crazy moment," Somerville said. "What I loved most was seeing everyone come together to give even more back to Food For Love."
Food For Love general manager Jodie Stuart said the evening was heartwarming and they were overwhelmed to raise a record amount for the charity.
It was the most sensational feeling, everyone was crying and hugging and celebrating. It was a collective team effort and the community coming together."
She said the money would be used to restock the shelves, especially heading into the busiest season, Christmas.
"We’re constantly fundraising and going out for community grants ... but this is the biggest fundraiser we’ve ever done. This will help us focus on our cooking and not have to be doing as much fundraising in this financial year."
Demand for the free meals provided by the 9-year-old not-for-profit was "absolutely" growing, Stuart said.
Food For Love and its volunteers, who now number more than 170, made and delivered more than 9220 meals in the last financial year, compared with 1700 in 2020-21 — an increase of more than 400%.
One of the most moving moments came from Cherie Sloan, who shared how Food For Love had supported her family following her husband’s brain cancer diagnosis.
"Cherie’s story reminded everyone why we do what we do. Behind every meal is a family facing a tough time," said Stuart.
Guest speakers were celebrity chef Nadia Lim and mountaineer Lydia Bradey ONZM, who spoke on nutrition, community, and resilience, and The Dirty Money Duo had guests dancing late into the night.
Ms Stuart said the auction perfectly captured the spirit of the night "it was pure community magic."
