The Free Store is an inner-city community in Wellington that daily redistributes edible surplus food from 35 local cafes, bakeries and restaurants.
It operates out of a converted shipping container in Upper Willis St.
More than 100,000 items of food are redistributed in the shipping container annually.
The Free Store serves people from all walks of life including the homeless, unemployed, students, refugee and immigrant families, the elderly and the sick.
It also makes sure there is no burden of effort for any of their suppliers.
Volunteers arrive at the cafes at a prearranged time and simply take the food away.
Every day they collect food on foot with the use of shopping trolleys. But shopping trolleys are designed for the smooth floors of supermarkets.
The Social Services and Community Development Board, is an Anglican funding board set up by the Wellington Anglican diocese some years ago,
The Board provided some money for the The Free Store to work with a local industrial design company to create a purpose-built trolley.
The trolleys were retrofitted with hefty waterproof canvas wraps, inflatable tyres for noise reduction and easier pushing, adjustable shelving for the interior and ash wood handles for a touch of class.
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