Making Monday The Best Day of the Week
November 22, 2025
A good story can lift your whole week, and this one starts in a kitchen filled with purpose. Our partner charity, Fair Food, has created a place where connection, confidence, and kai all come together. It highlights the strength that grows when a community cooks, laughs, and learns together.
Every Monday morning, something special happens in Fair Food’s Conscious Kitchen. The space hums with laughter, conversation, and the sound of chopping knives as Mandy, one of our lead volunteers, welcomes the team from the Young Onset Dementia Collective. Together, they peel, chop, and cook surplus food that would otherwise go to waste, turning it into nourishing meals for people in need.
The idea was inspired by the TV series The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes, which featured people living with younger-onset dementia working in a professional kitchen. When the show ended, we did not want that spark to fade. Fair Food inquired if the show stars might like to cook with us, and from that simple invitation, something truly meaningful has grown.
“We saw a natural partnership between our two missions: reducing food waste and food insecurity, and supporting people with dementia to stay connected, active, and valued. The Conscious Kitchen provides a safe and inclusive space where volunteers can contribute their skills and energy in a way that makes a tangible difference,” Anne Logan, the driving force behind the Collective says.
“Collaborating with community organisations like Fair Food helps us redefine what it means to live with younger onset dementia. And the benefits don’t just stop with the person with dementia because the families also feel that support. They can continue to work and be occupied with managing all the other family and financial responsibilities without worry or stress because they know their person is busy, engaged and supported.”
Since volunteering with Fair Food, this team has transformed more than 1,300 kilograms of surplus kai into thousands of ready-to-eat meals for people doing it tough. That’s a greenhouse gas emissions savings of 3.4 tonnes! But the impact goes far beyond the numbers. Families tell us how much it means to see their loved ones engaged, social, and proud of what they have achieved. The volunteers arrive with purpose and leave with joy, their smiles as bright as the kai they prepared.
Volunteer Anita says, “I’ve made friends I never thought I’d be making. We’ve worked together to be the best people we can be, so thank you for letting us be involved in this amazing organisation.”
“Opening our kitchen to people with younger onset dementia has extended our capacity to share food and strengthened our values as a community-led and inclusive organisation. Monday is now my favourite day of the week, and how many people can say that,” shares Fair Food General Manager Michelle Blau.
Thanks to the generosity of our One Percent Collective donors, Fair Food can run programmes like this at no cost to participants. Every act of giving is made possible by a community that believes in the power of connection.
Words and images supplied by Fair Food.
Support Fair Food with your 1%
Help Fair Food deliver the equivalent of 1,560 good meals for people in need with just 1% of your annual income. For the average Kiwi, that's only $10 per week. Support Fair Food with your 1%.
