Cans kept rolling in to the Regent Theatre even after the promotion ended

Foodbank personnel receiving cans from MovieFest Trust management team - from left Sarah Wadley, Sergeant Major David Muncaster and Major Val Tong, Clare Green and Trevor Moore, and Jared Mulinder.

Dannevirke's first Cans Festival, held over two weeks in August, has been a huge success, say organisers, with more than 140 cans being donated - instead of an admission charge - in return for entry into a movie.

For two weeks, entry to any one of the three movies being shown from Thursday to Sunday by the MovieFest Trust, which runs Dannevirke's Regent Theatre, could be paid for with cans of food. These were collected and donated to local food banks.

The idea was put to MovieFest organiser and manager Graeme Moffatt by Jenny Greener, who suggested it would help both the theatre and the foodbanks. Moffatt and his committee decided it was a great idea.

Over the fortnight, a supermarket trolley in the theatre filled up, many families bringing in more than they needed to just "because it was a great cause".

Some patrons coming to other movies also donated, and cans were still coming in after the campaign ended.

Representatives of St Vincent De Paul and the Dannevirke Salvation Army were thrilled to receive the cans, saying supplies are getting critically low as inflation bites into people's wage packets.

Demand was particularly high in the school holidays, as children were not receiving school lunches and, in some cases, school breakfasts.

Salvation Army's Major Val Tong said the cans were very welcome at this critical time - which Sergeant Major David Muncaster said was approaching a 'Mother Hubbard situation'.

Sarah Wadley from St Vinnies said their foodbank was always busy, but thanks to the generosity of the public and New World Supermarket, they were managing – however, only just.

Interest in the Regent Theatre is growing, as shown by the response to the Cans Festival. The Dannevirke Chamber of Commerce decided at its recent AGM to make the theatre its After Five destination on August 31.