Good Bitches Baking (GBB) Kāpiti Chapter

Like the national Good Bitches website says: We're on a mission to make Aotearoa the kindest place on earth!

Good Bitches Baking (GBB) is a network of 3,000 people throughout New Zealand who want to show kindness to those in their communities who are having a tough time. We do this by baking them a delicious treat.

Kapiti GBB is one of 28 chapters across Aotearoa. Bakers donate time and their baking to different organisations that are supporting a whole range of people having a tough time. GBB was founded in 2014 and the Kapiti GBB Chapter started in 2019 with 4 members. In June 2021 we number over 100 and we deliver to 12 different organisations. In just this month, June 2021 we are scheduled to deliver more than 60 different gifts of baking. Over the past 12 months we’ve delivered approximately 11,560 moments of sweetness to people in the Kāpiti Community having a tough time. The baking goes to a wide range of organizations including Mary Potter Hospice, Whirlwind, CAMEO, Grandparents Raising Grandkids and Kapiti Cottage.

Bakers and drivers love being part of this group because we can begin to understand just how much wonderful work happens in our community to support people experiencing difficulties. We can sign up to bake at a time that suits us, can have one of our volunteer drivers deliver it, or bakers can deliver their own baking.

From time to time, we get together to bake as a group (for example preparing multiple Christmas baking packages to deliver across Kapiti groups).

We sure missed delivering the baking during ‘lockdown’, but it was great being part of a national organisation. Baking tips and recipes were freely shared across through country with a Facebook group page. 😊

The best thing about being a Good Bitch is being able to use our love of baking and our skills to show others having a tough time that we care about them. Some Good Bitches who have previously been recipients of GB baking decide to join to pay it forward to others who are in similar situations.

Here’s what two of our recipient groups say: Connecting over food is such an important ritual –it’s therapeutic. When you compare a packet of biscuits with something baked with love – it’s so different … says Linda from Mary Potter Hospice. Martin from Whirlwind reflects on how GBB contributes to its work supporting men with mental health issues: 'Non-judgemental kindness is the key to how this works. The guys sense their community cares and doesn’t judge them, whatever their journey. Every morsel is a metaphorical connection point. It’s symbolic of their struggle and that they’re not alone.'

Good Bitches Baking (Kāpiti Chapter) entered this story as part of our Volunteer Story Competition to celebrate National Volunteer Week.