Mount Maunganui Bridge Club up to play with Tauranga Community Foodbank support

Mount Maunganui Bridge club president Anne Clarke (left) and club captain Carol Cullen with the bounty for the Tauranga Community Foodbank. Photo / George Novak

Mount Maunganui Bridge Club members have donated a bounty of food to the Tauranga Community Foodbank to help ensure no members of any families go without this Christmas.

The club's 250 members raised about $1000 every year for a charity of the club's choice, in addition to running a food drive for the Foodbank.

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So far, a bounty of food had been donated to go towards the Bay of Plenty Times Christmas Appeal, in partnership with Gilmours Wholesale Food and Beverage Tauriko.

The club had stuck the foodbank's Wish List up on a wall in the clubrooms as a guide for people.

The list helped the club members pick out items they never would have thought of otherwise, such as pet food.

Mount Maunganui Bridge club president Anne Clarke (left) and club captain Carol Cullen with the bounty for the Tauranga Community Foodbank. Photo / George Novak

Club president Anne Clarke said the club always turned up to give to the less fortunate.

"We see it as a necessity. We like to give back to the community in some way," she said.

"We try to choose charities that probably don't get a lot of funding."

As news spreads of the increasing cost of living leading to a bigger penny-pinch, she said the club members felt like it was their duty to give back.

"Alot of us are comfortable," she said. "Most members feel a responsibility. We read and hear that it's getting harder for people to get by, especially at Christmas time."

The club counted both retirees and working-age people among its members.

"Every organisation and business can make a difference," she said. "It's not just up to retired people to donate.

"It is so easy."

Tauranga Community Foodbank Wishlist

Canned tuna and salmon
Canned vegetables
Baking supplies such as baking powder, icing sugar, cocoa
Sauces and dressings
Jellies and puddings
Cake mixes
Pasta or rice
Personal care items, women's sanitary items, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, razors
Baby nappies - larger sizes
Christmas treats such as mince pies, Christmas puddings
Pet food

Xmas