Bay of Plenty Times Christmas Appeal: Tauranga Rotary's Cash or Cans foodbank collection

The Tauranga Foodbank is preparing for the demanding Christmas period. Photo / George Novak

The Tauranga Te Papa Rotary Club is holding the first half of its annual Cash or Cans collection for the foodbank this weekend.

Rotary volunteers will be taking donations of canned food and cash for the Tauranga Community Foodbank over two weekends from 10am to 6pm.

They'll be at Fraser Cove Countdown on November 27 and 28, and Countdown Bureta Park from December 4 to 5.

Neil Percival, a community services member with the rotary, said the club was proud to support the foodbank.

"The fundamental thing is that the foodbank feeds people who are hungry. Nobody likes to be hungry.

"There's so much good done by the foodbank for the community. They're not for profit, they're everything that's good about charity."

Barry Benton and Neil Percival at last year's Cash or Cans drive. Photo / supplied

He said community members often made specific trips to the supermarket just to make their donations while the volunteers were collecting.

This is the fourth year of the Cash or Can drive, and Percival said it was always successful thanks to generous community members.

"People get into the spirit of giving" at this time of year, he said.

Some of the most valuable goods people can give are canned fish, canned meats and canned vegetables, Percival said, as they're nutritious options.

"But it's all food at the end of the day. Everything gets distributed. And at Christmas, quite a few people produce treats.

"We've seen people who've been past recipients of every collection we do come up and give us a lot of money or a hell of a lot of food - boxes and boxes of stuff. And it's all based on gratitude and past experience.

"Those are the stories we love hearing."

He also loved to see parents and children arriving to donate, and said parents often got their children to help unload and give the canned goods to the volunteers.

"That's touching. It's learning about giving to others less fortunate than yourself."

Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin is grateful for the rotary's support. Photo / George Novak

The foodbank's manager Nicki Goodwin is grateful for the Rotary's help, and to Countdown for letting the drive happen at their supermarkets. The drive has provided a lot of assistance in its time.

"It's been hugely successful," she said. "They've (Rotary) done an amazing job. We're just delighted that they're running it again, especially with how busy we are."

Goodwin said having Covid-19 in the Bay would only add more pressure to what is already the foodbank's most demanding season. She thought the number of people needing help in the community would only get worse.

But, she said, the increased need could provide some people who had never thought about giving before the opportunity to consider it.

The foodbank is currently providing emergency assistance to those who've suddenly had to go into isolation due to Covid.

"Most of us don't understand what it feels like to be in food poverty. It's not always someone's fault – things can change really fast.

"We are lucky enough to live in a community that gives, and we can then pass that on.

"We take the responsibility of donations really seriously. We make sure everything's going where it's needed."

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