High School Can Drive stocks food bank

Some of the Whanganui High School prefects involved with Can Drive 2022 are Myles Simpson (left), Freyja Wrigglesworth, Millie Frampton, Toni Adams and Sjoerd Molijn. Photo / Paul Brooks

Last month at Whanganui High School, the call went out for cans of food and non-perishable goods for City Mission Foodbank.

It was a school house competition but also an effort to help those in need.

By the end of the can drive on Friday, the students had amassed 3789 cans and grocery items, enough to fill an office. On Monday, the collection was delivered by trailer to its destination.

"Last year [the school] gave 600 cans in total," says Myles Simpson, one of the school prefects and co-head of community. "We made sure it was a house competition."

After that, he says, it was all about promotion, using every digital and analogue facility available to get the word out and encourage students to bring in cans for the cause.

"We got all the deans involved and all the senior leadership teams."

As well as cans of food and dried goods like pasta, there are sanitary and toiletry items as well as biscuits and prepared, packaged meals.

"I just think it's an amazing thing for the students to contribute to the community," says Myles.

"We didn't expect to get this much at all," says community prefect and community co-head Sjoerd Molijn. "We did have a single student bring in 500 cans."

Those 500 went straight to City Mission.

"A massive thank you to all the students, parents and teachers who got involved in it," says Myles.

The students intend the Can Drive to be a regular annual event, and now they have set a record to be beaten.

"We prefects wanted our house to win ..." says Myles.

"... But it still goes to a good cause," says Freyja Wrigglesworth, head of Awa.

"We couldn't be happier with the result," says Sjoerd.

Whanganui High School is a co-educational secondary school with a roll of about 1400 students and a faculty of more than 160 staff.

There are four houses at the school, since their reintroduction at the beginning of Term 1 in 2018. They are Awa, Maunga, Moana and Whenua. The winning house was Maunga with Moana a close second.