A sample of a Christmas food parcel for an individual. Photo / Supplied
A sample of a Christmas food parcel for an individual. Photo / Supplied
The Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal is back in action, helping to raise donations for the local Salvation Army Foodbank and to create Christmas hampers for those in need.
So what goes into a food parcel?
Tania Hore, Rotorua Salvation Army community ministries team leader, said they thought about a couple of things: "Do whānau have a stove or just a microwave? Do they have a fridge or just an icebox?
"These are important questions we need to ask in deciding what to put in food parcels."
She said those who only had a microwave got a lot of non-perishable items like canned goods, pasta and cereal, which were food parcel staples people could donate.
"We also include tea, coffee, bread, eggs, spreads, pasta sauce and meat. If we have vegetables and fruit we will include that also."
She said some of the most popular, well-used food parcel items were spaghetti and noodles.
People could also donate fruit mince pies, chocolates, lollies and chips to help make the parcels a bit more festive - "anything that says we are celebrating".
"Those treats we don't have every day are things we also want in our parcels."
Any money donated will be used to buy more food and donated gifts will be given to families for their children.
Gifts should be brought in unwrapped, so parents can be provided with wrapping paper to get the special feeling of wrapping them themselves.
The Rotorua Daily Post, with the Rotorua Weekender and The Hits Rotorua 97.5FM, launched its annual Christmas appeal last Saturday.
From now until December 18, the team will be seeking non-perishable food donations to help the Salvation Army Foodbank continue its work throughout the Christmas period and into next year.
Last year's appeal raised $64,984.90. The donations helped more than 300 families at Christmas and ensured the Salvation Army could help more families year-round.
Food parcel recipe example Two-minute noodle fritters - 2 packets of two-minute noodles - Mixed vegetables and onions or leftover vegetables - 4 eggs - Add 2 tablespoons of chilli sauce if you would like Make up noodles as per usual, drain water. Add beaten eggs and anything you want (vegetables, onions etc), but no more than a cup full. Mix together and fry in spoon lots, with a little bit of oil. Eat while hot.
