Can-do attitude covers country

Douglas Park School pupils gave hundreds of cans to Salvation Army Lieutenant Jess Bishop, left, Catherine Cockeram, rear right, of NZCU, Lieutenant Daryn Bishop, and Sasha Bain, of NZCU.

Douglas Park School students have been kicking their cans - full of good Kiwi tucker - toward the tables of the hungry.

On Friday, students at the school covered a giant map of New Zealand with more than 200 cans of food they had brought for donation to Wairarapa officers of the Salvation Army through the New Zealand Credit Union Baywide Can Do scheme.

Lieutenants Daryn and Jess Bishop were on hand to accept the charity cache of food and were immensely grateful for the generosity of the children and their families.

The Salvation Army forecast food banks would face a significant increase in demand for food parcels over coming weeks as the coldest of the winter weather bites.

Gavin Earle, NZCU Baywide chief executive, said the 16 North Island branches of NZCU Baywide will be acting as food bank depots for the rest of the month and staff from the credit union in Masterton had worked with Douglas Park School on their collection and volunteered to gather cans outside supermarkets in the town as well.

Sasha Bain, who works at NZCU Baywide in Masterton, said staff at the branch office were pleased to be helping people who were at risk of going hungry. "Our team already pride themselves on having a can-do attitude so we are really excited to be able to work with the Salvation Army to help provide our local food bank, especially when there is such a need in our community. It is great that we are able to help in this small way," Ms Bain said.

"We know through talking with our own members that winter is a really tough time for many people in our community.

"People are struggling with already tight budgets and have to somehow pay for increased power bills to keep warm as well as often increased medical bills due to the various winter bugs.

"Our Can Do initiative aims to assist people in our community and enable them to put food on the table for their families and hopefully help lighten the financial burdens a little."

The Can Do scheme is also being driven through Facebook at www.facebook.com/NZCUBaywide and with every new "like" NZCU Baywide will donate a can, Mr Earle said.

Demand for Salvation Army food parcels remains at a higher level than before the recession, Mr Earle said.

The charity organisation had reported an increase in the number of food parcels going to the working poor, whose incomes had been outstripped by rising living costs, he said.

Last year the Salvation Army handed out more than 56,700 parcels and helped feed almost 29,000 families at its food banks situated throughout New Zealand.