Scope Cafe's Rotorua owner-operators Dana and Steve Greer filled the stairway during the annual Coffee for a Can fundraiser. Photo / Laura Smith
Scope Cafe's Rotorua owner-operators Dana and Steve Greer filled the stairway during the annual Coffee for a Can fundraiser. Photo / Laura Smith
“I hear so much negativity about Rotorua, but we see the good in Rotorua and deal with the good in Rotorua, every single day - I think Rotorua puts other cities to shame.”
That’s what Dana Greer, owner of Scope Cafe, says after being overwhelmed by customers’ generosity at the Tūtānekai St spot’s annual Coffee for a Can foodbank fundraiser.
She said Wednesday’s event made her proud of their community’s efforts.
Despite many facing tough times, she said more people had shown up to swap a can for a coffee in support of Rotorua’s Salvation Army Foodbank than in any previous year.
Greer said the first transaction was at 6.45am, with customers lined up outside the shop with cans in hand before their 7am opening time.
Greer made Rotorua her home over 20 years ago and has been involved in running the Coffee for a Can fundraiser since opening Scope Cafe with her partner Steve eight years ago.
Scope Cafe Rotorua owner-operators Dana and Steve Greer filled the stairway with donations during the annual Coffee for a Can fundraiser. Photo / Laura Smith
She said it was always a good sign when people asked about the fundraiser before and after it was held.
“We still had people dropping things off after the Sallies picked them up,” Greer said.
On Wednesday the Scope team exchanged 240 free coffees for food donations.
Greer said she didn’t count the cans before they were picked up, but a lot of people gave more than one.
Scope Cafe suppliers Altura Coffee Co had donated two extra coffee bags for the day and Bid Food Rotorua offered “a whole lot of non-perishable items to go straight out to [the foodbank]”, she said.
Milk supplier Goodman Fielder gave them rice to donate to the Salvation Army foodbank, which operates a choice-model supermarket for its clients.
Greer said some of Scope’s customers were experiencing tough times this year, so they were grateful people still gave what they could.
“Everybody’s struggling, we know that it hasn’t been an easy last five years,” Greer said.
“We’ve had dear old ladies coming in with one can to get their coffee, you know, but it is the best they can do, so you can’t help but feel really grateful for it.”
The Christmas holidays would be tough for some people but fundraisers were a good way to bolster community spirit, she said.
“We have amazing customers and an amazing community.
“People come out of their homes, if you put a cause before the people of Rotorua, people rise up, and they come out and they help,” Greer said.
Aleyna Martinez is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. She moved to the region in 2024 and has previously reported in Wairarapa and at Pacific Media Network.
