Community Koha Resource Bank CHB

18/06/2026

💛 Kia ora CHB, we're back but we have changed our name as the op shop is no longer open, now we are the Community Koha Resource Bank CHB!!

We’re introducing a dedicated space online for something we have already been doing for some time.

Even after the closure of our op shop, our initiatives have continued quietly in the background - collecting, rescuing, and redistributing essential items to whānau across Central Hawke’s Bay.

This page now exists to bring visibility to that mahi, and to help connect more people with the support and resources available.

🌱 What we do
We provide access to essential household and baby items, including:
• Cots and safe sleep equipment
• Car seats (urgent need at present)
• Curtains for warmer homes
• Household and children’s essentials

We receive donated items, sort them with care, and redistribute them directly to individuals, families, and community organisations.

🚨 Current urgent needs
Right now, there is a significant need in our community for:
• Cots
• Safe, usable car seats
These can be delivered to Central Hawke’s Bay Pregnancy & Parenting, Ruahine Whakawhanau Tamariki 1 Cook Street, Waipukurau
Many whānau are currently without these essential items, and we are working to respond to this as quickly as possible.
If you are able to donate, please reach out.

🤝 Our partners
We are proud to work alongside to help these initiatives come to life:
• New Zealand Red Cross
• Central Hawke’s Bay Pregnancy & Parenting, Ruahine Whakawhanau Tamariki
• CHB District Council
• Safer Network

We’ve had a lot of messages about baby clothes, Pregnancy Help Central Hawkes Bay can take these donations!

📦 How to support
We do not currently have a public drop-off point. Donations are by arrangement only.

If you can donate cots, car seats, or other baby and household essentials, please contact us to organise collection or discuss options.

📞 020 4193 0882

Thank you for supporting this kaupapa and helping us strengthen care, dignity, and access in our community. 💛

27/03/2026

Come get some free stuff!

22/03/2026

Thank you so much to everyone who has already come through and supported us as we begin closing up the shop. Every donation, every box, and every item that finds a new home is incredibly helpful to us right now, and we really appreciate the kindness and support from the community.

For our final days & times we will be open:
Thursday: 5 – 8pm
Friday: 5 – 8pm
Saturday: Final day

Everything in the shop will be free (koha appreciated).
If you have paid for anything please collect during these hours.

There are lots of random bits and pieces including:
• Furniture
• Boxes of coat hangers and plastic bits
• Clothes already packed in boxes (if you would like clothes you will need to take a whole box please, no sorting)

Please come along, take what you can use, and help us clear the space.

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the shop over the years. We are so proud of what we built together and the impact this little space has had in our community.

While we are sad to leave, we are making this decision for our whānau. We’re looking forward to having our time and energy back to put into our beautiful tamariki.

And the biggest thank you of all to the people who have walked beside us and poured their heart and soul into the shop. Ken, you are such a gift. Katie Pickering, Rheanne Rusden, Grace White, Anne, Sharon, and so many others who have volunteered, helped, and supported us along the way.

We truly could not have done it without you all.
Ngā mihi nui,
Hope

01/03/2026

🚨 CLOSING DOWN CLEAR OUT 🚨

$5 Fill a Bag
$10 Fill a Box

You can put ANYTHING in it.
Plates, cups, kitchenware, linen, toys, books, shoes, DVDs…
Furniture for koha.

We need EVERYTHING gone.

62 Ruataniwha Street, Waipukurau

MON, FRI, SAT, SUN
10AM - 1PM
TUES, WED, THURS
10AM - 330PM

Bring a friend. Help us empty this place 🔥

19/01/2026

Kia ora e te whānau,

We want to share an important update with our community.

For the foreseeable future, we will be closing our physical op shop. Our last day will be 15 March 2026, unless a new tenant takes over the lease earlier.

This hasn’t been an easy decision. We’ve poured everything we have into this space. Our time, energy, hearts, and hopes but right now, it isn’t enough to keep the shop running in a way that is sustainable or healthy for us. We need to pause, reflect, and prioritise our young family.

This journey has been a huge learning experience. Alongside the incredible moments of connection and generosity, there have also been real challenges: being overwhelmed by unsuitable donations, theft, and having hard work undone has added a level of stress we can no longer carry. Naming this doesn’t take away from the good it simply honours our reality.

We want to be very clear: this is not the end of our kaupapa. We will continue our initiatives and projects, such as Cokoha, the Cot Bank & waste diversion just without a shop front. While we do have ideas and hopes for what’s next, this is a season of pausing and re-grounding.

We are deeply proud of the mahi that has happened here. Proud of what we built, proud of the impact made, and especially proud of the people.

To our volunteers and staff, thank you. You showed up, often quietly and consistently, with kindness, resilience, and generosity. You kept us afloat. You came in with smiles even on hard days. You are selfless, compassionate people, and the world would be a better place with more of you in it.

To our shoppers and supporters: thank you for choosing us, for believing in what we were trying to do, and for walking alongside us.

This shop may be closing, but the values behind it are not. Thank you for being part of this chapter with us.

With gratitude,
Hope & Mitchell
💛

27/11/2025

Absolutely disgusting. To the people who have dumped their broken, moldy furniture and rubbish here shame on you. Part of the reason we need to save costs is because have to pay dump fees for this all, it’s not free. Your rubbish is NOT our problem!!!!!!!

All of the surrounding businesses have cameras, we have a security light. It doesn’t stop anyone at all!!!

There are also 3 clear signs asking for no donations.

26/11/2025

We’re following suit here. Thank you for your understanding 🫶

Hi@everyone, please read this information. We need everyone to keep an eye out on their $50 & $100 notes please ...
Kindest Regards,
"The Opshop Waipawa"

23/11/2025

Another incredible Kirihimete initiative here in CHB!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️🎄🎄🎄🎄

Christmas 2025 is just around the corner... The excitement for everyone, especially children, is starting to grow...
We would be eva so grateful if you are able to support us, so we can support the children of Central Hawkes Bay...

21/11/2025

20/11/2025

Awesome night with the CHB Food Bank for their Can Do Drive! So many donations from the community & mahi from the volunteers! 🙌❤️