Christmas Appeal: Kiwifruit contractor donates $1 for every hour worked in new initiative

Aquinas College rowers Mia Finlayson, Harrison McGregor, Kate Finlay and Georgiana Powell. Photo / Supplied

A kiwifruit contractor is killing two birds with one stone and raising money for the foodbank through the business.

Luciano Garcia, a kiwifruit contracting company boss, has pledged to donate $1 per hour worked, per person to the Tauranga Community Foodbank.

The six-week Bay of Plenty Times Christmas Appeal for the Tauranga Community Foodbank is in its fourth week.

Rowing students and parents from Aquinas College were the first of two groups to pull together for a day's paid work on a kiwifruit orchard, Garcia said.

The teams worked at the Te Puke orchard, fruit thinning and raised $170 for the foodbank.

Money earned by the Aquinas College students would go towards the costs to send a team to the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships.

Parent Steve McGregor said it had been good to help the foodbank and fundraise for their sport.

"We're a Catholic school and we believe in being part of the community and giving back."

Fellow parent Anne Powell said it's been "near impossible" to fundraise because of the pandemic but fundraising was the main source of additional income for sports teams.

Site supervisor Caio Siebel said the Aquinas College team were on the job at 8am and quickly got the hang of things.

"They were awesome."

The programme would continue throughout the summer. Any group could take part as a fundraiser for themselves and the foodbank.

Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin said it was a "fabulous" initiative and something they had never seen before.

She said it was a great way for teens to fundraise for something while giving back to the community.

BOP_How_to_donate_2021_OL