Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal: Reporter Shauni James spends time at local foodbank

Rotorua Daily Post and Rotorua Weekender reporter Shauni James helps to pack a food parcel at the Salvation Army Foodbank. Photo / Supplied

After one morning at the local Salvation Army Foodbank, I became a pro at bagging food and spent the rest of my day feeling like I had helped to make a difference.

Spending a couple hours volunteering at the foodbank this week was a fun and rewarding experience, and there was plenty to do, meaning the time absolutely flew by.

The donuts, muffins and scones I bagged up first were a feast for the eyes, and after a couple of trial-and-error runs with the bagging tape contraption, I was away packing up the yummy treats.

Next I was taken through how a food parcel is put together and what to consider including, depending on if it is for an individual, couple or family.

A few food parcel requests came in while I was there, and it was so much fun going through the foodbank's stock, putting together parcels full of food and ingredients that would help people to make it through the week.

It was a rewarding feeling having full bags of food and toiletries done up, and knowing that it was about to go to someone in need - who was appreciative of the assistance.

Meat, vegetables, pasta sauce, noodles/pasta, tinned fruit, spaghetti/baked beans, biscuits, tea/coffee, crackers, chips, milk, sugar, bread, cereal, soap and toilet paper were just some of the items used to fill the parcels.

There was even some dog and bird food packed for one. It just goes to show the range of items that can be donated to help others out.

We then filled up a few spots in the foodbank that were running low and tidied up some of the tinned food.

A number of eggs had been brought in and needed to be bagged which was my next task.

I was a little bit nervous about this one as I'm not always the most graceful person on the block - prone to a bit of clumsiness - so I was just hoping I wouldn't break any eggs while using the bagging tape contraption.

However, there was no need to fear and we soon had bags of eggs all in one piece packed into the fridge, ready to go.

So, when it came time to bag some fruit, I was a pro by then and was able to whizz through.

After spending time at the foodbank and seeing how many food parcels are needed out in the community, I really hope we are able to help raise plenty of donations to contribute to the foodbank's amazing work.

There are people in need for so many different personal reasons, and no one deserves to go hungry.

And even if you may not be able to give back in terms of food donations, perhaps you can give back to our local Salvation Army with the gift of some of your time - especially as this is a busy period of the year for them!

How to donate.