The bus is cruising around Rotorua collecting items for the Salvation Army foodbank.
KEY POINTS:
The Hits Fill the Bus is part of the Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal
Collecting non-perishable goods for the Salvation Army foodbank around Rotorua for 10 hours today
See below for all the stops where you can kindly donate
4pm: The Christmas tree at Rotorua Lakes Council was surrounded by donations for Fill the Bus.
Mayor Tania Tapsell said every day the council staff were out there serving the community, so it was great to have another way to give to those in need, especially at a special time like Christmas.
”We are just over the moon to hear that this year the Rotorua community has really turned out for those in need, and the generosity from our students especially is pleasing to see.”
Paul Hickey, Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell, Rotorua Salvation Army volunteer Raukura Kapa, and Salvation Army Rotorua corps officer Hana Seddon. Photo / Shauni James
3.40pm: Hamish Falconer from First National dropped off donations at the Countdown Rotorua public drop-off. He said it was awesome to see the community come together and support locals. Falconer had a big shout-out for the foodank and all the work it did.
BestStart Pukuatua manager Jenny Christie said they wanted to support the community that supported their centre. She said they had been talking to the children about Fill the Bus and what it was all about.
Paul Hickey with BestStart Pukuatua children (from left) Silas Geraets, Travis Costillo, Joel Cieslak and Ava Liu, all aged 3. Photo / Shauni James
Hamish Falconer from First National with a number of cans to donate. Photo / Shauni James
Countdown Rotorua staff (from left) Kiran Uppala, Key Patel, and Pitu Malesh with Paul Hickey from The Hits. Photo / Shauni James
2.45pm: Well that was the last of our school visits and what an amazing effort by our tamariki again this year. Their generosity and enthusiasm always blows us away. Thank you everyone you should be very proud.
Our next stop is Countdown Fenton St at 3pm. See you soon!
2.43pm: Westbrook school pupil Tiana Chrisohoou, 11, thought it was cool their school could donate and help people.
”It’s great we are here to help them when they need it the most. It’s the holidays and they should get something nice for their holiday.”
Westbrook pupil Hunter Te Kowhai, 11, said it was cool that Westbrook and many other schools were giving to people in need.
”Christmas is all about giving.”
Image 1 of 27: Westbrook School. Fill the Bus. Photo / Shauni James.
2.31pm: Aorangi School principal Kairo McLean said it was important for the school to get behind this kaupapa and acts of service.
”Christmas is a time of year that is about supporting and giving more than you receive. For a lot of families it’s a stressful time of year.”
He said it was great for kids to see what they could do to help others, and that Fill the Bus was something the school would be supporting annually.
Aorangi School pupil Holly Hatchard, 11, said they were giving to help support people in need and that it felt really good to help out. She said there were lots of cans and items such as noodles, soap and toilet paper that the school collected.
2.06pm: So you maybe asking how the bus is looking inside....
1.27pm: Back in town, Kawaha Point School pupil Jackson Thompson, 10, said their school had collected all sorts of cans, with pineapple, spaghetti and blackberries to name a few.
He said he enjoyed being part of Fill the Bus because he was able to know that he was helping people, and that they were contributing to a better New Zealand in the future.
He said it felt pretty cool to see all the donations the school had collected and seeing everyone contribute.
Down the road, Selwyn School pupils were full of delight to both hand their donations over to the bus and see the Grinch.
Deputy principal Merenia Gotz said the school had its own vulnerable families who gave to the appeal too.
”Things are really tough around New Zealand at the moment, and we want to spread the manaaki and help out where we can.
She said helping out in the community was a great skill for the kids to learn.
Kawaha Point School. Fill the Bus. Photo / Shauni James
1.07pm: There were plenty of laughs, smiles and squeals of delight from Ngongotaha School students as donations were picked up.
Honour Zammit, 10, said it felt great to have so many donations to give. She said the school got behind the appeal to help people get food for Christmas. Ellie Te Are, 10, agreed that it felt good to be able to give all these donations to Fill the Bus and to help other people
Ngongotaha School principal Craig McFadyen said Fill the Bus was a wonderful event that the school loved to get behind every year.
”We want to support the community, and we’ve been really lucky with our local community supporting us with hundreds of cans and non-perishable food items. We are happy to help.”
Ngongotaha School students. Fill the Bus. Photo / Shauni James
12.45pm: The bus marches on to more schools and businesses. The next public drop-off point is Countdown Fenton St at 3pm. In the meantime check out some snaps from the day so far:
Image 1 of 27: Westbrook School. Fill the Bus. Photo / Shauni James.
12.37pm: ChemDry Rotorua owner/manager Amanda Steer brought along a box of donations from the business to the Central Mall public drop off.
She said ChemDry Rotorua had wanted to give back to the community. Her Dad had passed away recently and he had lots of food stored so they had gone through the items and included some of those.
12.09pm: The bus is on its way to the Central Mall foodcourt entrance now. Come down and say hi....and bring your donations!
11.59am: Rotorua Primary School you rock!!
Principal Fred Whata said it was always great to fill the bus no matter what year it was.
”I think filling the bus is a good opportunity to share with people in need of food this Christmas,” Madison Koopu, 12, said.
The prefects all agreed that getting a visit from the Grinch “never got old”.
11.26am: BREAKING NEWS! Glenholme School has collected 1061 cans for Fill the Bus.
Glenholme School deputy principal Molly Norton said even though the school participated in Fill the Bus every year they wanted to bring in more donations in 2022.
”So we held a competition and the class to bring in the most cans will get a pizza lunch. They absolutely loved it and our school leaders have been getting into classrooms and being really encouraging.”
Glenholme School young leaders Nate Gotz, 11, left, and Charli Curtis, 11, and classmates donating 1061 cans to Fill the Bus. Photo / Mead Norton
11.12am: Otonga School principal Gareth Cunliffe said his students loved putting their donations on the bus.
”They talk about it before the day, especially the leaders because they know they will get their turn to fill the bus. Then the little ones wanted to come out too.”
Cunliffe said they had started collecting donations two weeks ago in two boxes.
”Then this morning truck loads came in.”
Cunliffe said in the end they had collected more donations than last year.
Reminder: The next public stop is the Central Mall foodcourt entry from about 12.10pm. See you there!
9.43am: Mokoia Intermediate Year 8 student Layne Murray said she had donated cans of tomatoes, kidney beans, spaghetti, peaches and pears.
”The best past of Fill the Bus is knowing that all the food is going to a great cause. We think it’s important that all families have a great Christmas.”
Layne said she had participated in Fill the Bus at Glenholme School and was excited to be a part of the event again.
Image 1 of 27: Westbrook School. Fill the Bus. Photo / Shauni James.
9.27am: At Owhata School the bus was greeted by seven eager students competing with each other for who could carry the most cans. Whaea Robin said the day was all about passing it on to others.
Owhata School's Braxton Te Kiri helps move boxes into bus. Fill the Bus. Photo / Mead Norton
9.14am: The bus has pulled into Rotokawa School, the first of our school visits. Principal Regan Williams said they had been collecting donations for about four weeks.
”A lot of the kids remember the visit last year and they understand why they’re donating the food. They were most excited about the people with the masks and lollies.”
Williams said participating in Fill The Bus taught the students about being kind and caring and understanding.
”That’s the most important thing.”
The next opportunity for the public to donate is at the Central Mall at 12.10pm.
Fill the Bus public drop-off times.
8.32am: Flynn Hurihanganui from Lynmore Primary School said his class was going on a trip today but he didn’t want to miss out on donating so he met the bus at Lynmore Junction. Thanks Flynn!
Flex Fitness trainer Kellyanne Fitzell brought a big, red box of donations to the Lynmore Junction stop. Fitzell said she and her colleagues wanted to support Fill the Bus to give back to the community.
Flynn Hurihanganui, 9, donated to Fill the Bus. Fill the Bus. Photo / Maryana Garcia
8.12am: The bus is heading out to Lynmore Junction now until around 8.40am. This is the last public stop for a wee while so get down there with your donations!
New Zealand Post’s Vanessa Fisher was first to drop off donations at the New World stop.”Everyone chipped in,” Fisher told the Rotorua Daily Post.
Jodeen McLean. New Zealand Post's Vanessa Fisher, The Hits Paul Hickey and the Grinch at New World. Fill the Bus. Photo / Maryana Garcia
8.03am: At the helm of this year’s Fill the Bus drive is community bus driver Jodeen McLean.
“I want to see how much food we can get into this bus to help people, she said.
McLean served as a truck driver in the New Zealand Army. She was deployed to East Timor, Antarctica and to Sinai Egypt. After some time as a stay-at-home Mum, McLean decided she needed to get out of the house.
The bus is currently parked up at the Brookland Rd shops in Western Heights until about 7.40am. Next stop will be New World from 7.50am.
Come on down with your non-perishable goods for the Rotorua Salvation Army foodbank.
The Hits Rotorua presenter Paul Hickey will be on the bus all day from 7am until 6pm, and will be doing his radio show live from 9am to 3pm, chatting to lots of locals who make donations.
“We have more schools and ECEs than ever before, which will make for a busy day and quick stops, but everybody is understanding because of what the end goal achieves.
“While the schools are major contributors as large groups, we want to give everybody the chance to donate and help fill the bus. So, those early morning, lunchtime, and after school periods are important parts of the day as well.”
Paul has previously said that over the past seven years Fill the Bus has collected more than $85,000 worth of food for the cause, and the aim this year is to crack the $100,000 mark.
Last year, the community donated 6597 cans and food items valued at $13,194 through the Fill the Bus campaign.
The bus parked up at Brookland Rd shops ready for donations.
Let’s Fill the Bus!:
Join us here live for one of the big days of the Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal, The Hits Fill the Bus event, an annual day of fun, smiles and community generosity to support the Salvation Army Foodbank.
For 10 hours today, the bus will travel all over Rotorua visiting schools, businesses and shopping centres and slowly but surely the bus will fill up with non-perishable food donations from locals.
The first stop this morning is at the Brookland Rd shops in Western Heights from 7.20am.
The Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal, in combination with the Rotorua Weekender and The Hits Rotorua 97.5FM, is working to raise food and money for the foodbank to help it feed those in need this Christmas and beyond.
This year’s appeal runs until Friday, December 23.
Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal 2022
An estimated 1440 items valued at more than $3600 have been donated to Rotorua’s foodbank as Rotorua Daily Post’s Christmas Appeal reaches its halfway mark.
Rotorua Salvation Army Corps officer Hana Seddon said so far there had been about 1100 items of food donated, plus 340 items from Mamaku Volunteer Fire Brigade’s food drive. With a $2.50 value assigned to each item — up from $2 last year due to the rising cost of living — this amounted to about $3600 worth of donations.
The community has rallied in many ways over the past three weeks to gather donations for the appeal.
Some examples include the Ngongotahā Medical Centre collecting items, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology barista students holding a Cans for a Coffee event, and Mamaku locals donating 340 cans after the Mamaku Volunteer Fire Brigade hit the streets for its annual food drive.
Scope cafe owner Dana Greer invites the community to get behind Can for a Coffee Day. Photo / Maryana Garcia
Latest figures show that within the first 10 months of this year, the Salvation Army provided kai to the value of $87,000 to those in need compared with $46,000 in 2019 before Covid — a rise of about 89 per cent.
Rotorua Daily Post editor Scott Inglis said the Christmas tree in the Daily Post office had continued to be surrounded by generous donations.
“The first half of this year’s appeal has flown by quickly, and we greatly appreciate all the donations so far.
“With a number of upcoming events and donations scheduled, we can’t wait to see what else the generous Rotorua community gives during these next three weeks of the appeal.”
Last year, a total of $65,792.10 was raised for the foodbank through cash and food donations.
This year, the appeal comes at a time when many are struggling with the cost of living crisis. While donations of food and money are welcomed, anyone wanting to help but struggling with this can consider donating their time.
