Nearly eight months after Cyclone Gabrielle, there's still a huge demand for help in Hawke's Bay but the number of volunteers and donations have fallen over the past few months.
One of the volunteer operations that's been running since the cyclone is Neela Neela's kitchen, where more than 170,000 meals have been made for cyclone victims and cleanup crews.
"They've got no food. They've lost everything and have no power. They can't cook," Neela told Newshub.
At its peak, her kitchen was churning out a thousand meals a day. Now, they're still making hundreds from Monday to Saturday every week.
"If people are full, they can have more energy and think about what they need to do next," she said.
One of the volunteers, Steve Tutbury, has been part of the crew since March.
"It's been enjoyable, and I've learnt a few cooking skills! I still work full time; I go to the office when I finish here and do my days' work," he said.
The meals are funded by donations of money and ingredients from across the country and coordinated by the Evergreen Foundation. Its managing director Brendan O'Sullivan said in the past few months support for the region has wavered.
"If people can help the need is big. There are some big gaps, especially up in Wairoa and the East Coast. There are some really deprived communities up there and so there is definitely still a lot of work to do," O'Sullivan said.
"You have the heroic stuff at the start, which is fantastic, but the really special stuff is months on. Some of these people haven't stopped and the sustained effort has been amazing," O'Sullivan said.
The group is also helping apple growers with their recovery by cleaning up 30,000 contaminated apple bins that were caught in flood waters, covered in silt and scattered across the region.
"The bins couldn't be used in their current state. It's a food safety issue, they need to be cleaned to a certain standard to be re-used," said Tumu Timbers operations manager Andrew Cranswick.
The bins are worth about $3 million to the industry, which is why it's been important to salvage them, rather than just chucking them out.
"The guys are working bloody hard. It's a physical job and I think they'll be pleased to see the end of it as well," Cranswick said.
It's one of the many jobs that's helping Hawke's Bay get back to business.
