A “tremendous” total of just over $250,000 worth of cash and food donations has been raised for the Tauranga Community Foodbank in the Bay of Plenty Times’s 2023 Christmas Appeal.
The final tally comes as the last can of soup, pack of biscuits and bottle of sauce collected for the six-week drive have been counted by the foodbank’s hardworking volunteers.
Despite the high cost of living, Tauranga people, businesses and organisations gave generously from their wallets and cupboards in the spirit of Christmas.
As this year’s appeal launched in November, the foodbank was seeing “record need”, with homeowners, full-time workers still in uniform and double-income households among those seeking help to feed themselves and their families.
Cash donations exceeded those of 2022, with the $168,650.90 donated by the community up on 2022 by nearly $900.
Among those were big-ticket donations including $20,000 from the Hillsdene Charitable Trust, $15,000 from the Port of Tauranga, and $10,000 from Synergy Technologies.
Tauranga Community Foodbank chairman Simon Beaton said the cash donations were valuable as the foodbank used the money to buy their staple foods.
Food donations filled a different demand, giving clients treats and luxuries the foodbank could not afford to provide.
A total of 33,205 food items were donated. For the purpose of the tally, each item is valued at $2.50 – the same as in 2022 – totalling $83,012 worth of food. The combined tally was $251,662.90.
In the 2022 appeal, $256,471 was donated – $167,758.84 in cash and $88,712 in food. It was the highest amount raised in the appeal’s history. The second-highest was a total of $254,416, donated in 2020.
Last year the foodbank spent an average of $20,012 a month on staple foods, compared with $14,758 a month the year before.
The foodbank store celebrated its first birthday this year, aiming to provide longer-term support for struggling households and to give clients “control and ownership” over what they eat each week.
The average household experienced a 7.4 per cent rise in living costs in the year to September, according to Statistics New Zealand.
The 2023 appeal included fundraising events such as The Hits Christmas in the Park movie night with attendees donating 536 food items - most of which were canned goods - valued at $1340.
The Emergency Services Food Drive hit the ball out of the park with more than 3800 items donated in The Lakes area alone.
This year, the drive covered The Lakes, Tauranga Avenues, Mount Maunganui, Ōmokoroa, Katikati and Maketū.
Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin said the result of the 2023 appeal was “tremendous”.
“We are so very grateful for the amazing support.”
“This appeal result gives us a financially positive start to 2024, and all the extra goodies donated will put a smile on a lot of people’s faces,” she said.
Acting Bay of Plenty Times editor Samantha Motion said the team was proud to have helped the community achieve another great result for the foodbank.
“We know lots of people had to tighten their belts last year so to see Tauranga digging deep to support this vital service is heartwarming.”
Harriet Laughton is a multi-media journalist based in the Bay of Plenty.