Napier residents were busy brightening the town and lives of struggling people with thousands of small paint pots last month.
People all over Napier took part in the Resene Hunger for Colour fundraiser, swapping a can of food for a 60-80ml test pot of Resene paint at its Onekawa store.
In total the store collected 4,369 cans that have been donated to the Napier Salvation Army food bank - the second largest number of donations anywhere in the country, just behind Palmerston North.
Last year Napier residents swapped 480 cans for paint pots, but this year the tally was boosted by Hawke's Bay Rocks, a community group who encourage families to paint rocks and hide them for others to find.
Salvation Army Napier officer Alister Irwin said he was 'blown away' by the donations.
The cans have come in at just the right time, he says, restocking the shelves after a busy period at the start of the year, when families had been doing it tough with the pressure of holidays and back-to-school costs.
'We're very, very grateful. It keeps us going for another two or three months and gives us the peace of mind knowing we have food available if should we have a particular rush.'
Napier Colorshop Manager Kristel McFarland said Hunger for Colour was a huge success for the Napier Colorshop this year.
"We had a massive turn out of customers coming in to pick colours for painting rocks so the timing was impeccable! It's a fantastic feeling seeing all the cans going to families in need and we're all looking forward to contributing to the community in the future."
The generosity of Hawke's Bay residents was also seen in Hastings, which had the fourth highest number of donations in the country with 3474 cans donated. Nationally more than 62,000 cans were swapped for test pots.