'There's something special happening here.” Here being Te Puke.

'The way the town turns out is fantastic. Says something about the community I have moved to.”

Just one face in a crowd of several hundred watching the cavalcade of Te Puke High students arriving for the annual school ball recently – trucks, cars, motorbikes, the works. It's an event in itself and the town turns out to cheer.

'It's another reason for me moving from Papamoa to Te Puke,” says the face.

'It's about pride and caring,” said Nana waiting to see her granddaughter in all her finery. 'Nice things happen in this town.”

What kind of nice things? What sets this town of 8200 (as of June 2017) apart, this town borne of flaxmills and sawmills, a little old gold from the hills and a bundle of new gold, kiwifruit. You don't have to scratch too deep to find nice things. Or nice people, people like John Shrestha.

A Nepali-born Kiwi, he's part of the town's rich ethnic tapestry. Every Wednesday John fires up his 'big barbecue machine” and cooks local schoolkids a sausage with bread – 50 sausages and 50 pieces of bread. And tomato sauce because kids like tomato sauce.

'This is a prosperous country, yet kids go to school without food. I wondered how that was possible. I can't believe so many school children are so vulnerable.”

John's a professional chef, runs the Te Puke Diner. 'More than just a café” the sign says. John was loathe to talk about the sausages. That's not the style in Te Puke. 'Because it's not about business, this is about my heart. I want to do more, I want every child to get lunch, a decent meal.” Not just random schools chosen every Wednesday, but every school every day.

When he arrived in New Zealand people reached out to John and his wife. Now he's passing on the goodwill. And being rewarded with little smiles and little notes of gratitude.

'It's an amazing place to live,” says Te Puke champion Monique Lints. 'Without a doubt.” She talks about collaboration.

'For example the community garden and the Daily Cafe in town are getting referrals to teach families how to cook for themselves. They are sending these people home with skills. They're amazing.”

Te Puke is a melting pot. Skim through the student register at Te Puke High School and you will see an extraordinary 45 different ethnic groups represented in its classrooms. They are differences that are celebrated – at school and in town where they fly flags in recognition.

'Welcome to our Pacific Island neighbours,” says one banner slung from a light standard high above a leafy, tree-lined avenue that is Te Puke's main street. Another flapped its appreciation of the town's Indian community and a third its Nepali people – like John Shrestha. He would be humbled.

'It's about their contribution to the economy of our lovely town,” says community board chairman Peter Miller. 'Especially the kiwifruit industry. It is my personal view the industry would collapse without our Indian people.”

Then there was a 'beautiful Cinderella story” on the day of the local school ball. There was one young woman who could not afford any of the trappings – the evening wear, the hair and makeup, or even the ticket.

She dropped by Vector Group Charitable Trust's pop-up beauty shop – a little venture offering donated evening wear, suits, hair styling and makeup to make the ball accessible and affordable to all the kids .

'It was amazing,” says the trust's Tracey Fawcett. 'She slipped into a donated dress that still had tags attached. She looked amazing. She had her hair and make-up donated and her ticket paid for. What a beautiful, beautiful story.” A Te Puke story.

But the pop-up shop was more about changing a mindset – that kids didn't have to spend crazy amounts of money they didn't have to go to a ball. 'You don't have to have a brand new dress,” says Tracey. 'It's actually okay to borrow, return and pass on. It's changing a culture.”

Even the Te Puke High head boy and head girl bought in and borrowed because they loved the idea of sustainability around their school ball. 'So cool, eh?” says Tracey.

And if food is the ingredient that binds people then Te Puke is inextricably glued.

A local cafe has a pay-it-forward coffee scheme. 'Some people with a little extra money can afford nice coffees and there are others in town who need a little love and care and somewhere to be,” says Chrissi Robinson of the trust that runs Daily Café.

So, those who can buy one and also shout one. And the Daily Cafe hands them out to people struggling in different ways. The cafe is run by a trust with a vision that everyone is Te Puke is thriving and connected.

The cafe hosts a cottage pie event once a month. Volunteers whip up donated ingredients into 60 cottage pies, or crisis meals. They go out to families and people who need them.

And there's pizza night. Every month 80-100 people call into the cafe for a pizza. Some bring toppings, some bring conversation, some bring dollops of caring, sharing and love. It's about connecting people with the town in which they live. And food is the catalyst.

There's been enormous growth in Te Puke in recent times. 'Lots of new people because Auckland is too expensive, and Tauranga's too expensive,” says Monique Lints. 'So why not live in Te Puke with its country and community feel and a place where everyone supports and cares about each other.”

And Te Puke just so happens to have the best damned club rugby team east of Hamilton.