Christmas Appeal: Can-do attitude sees food pile up for Tauranga Foodbank

The donations for the Tauranga Community Foodbank keep on rolling in as the Bay of Plenty Times Christmas Appeal approaches its final week.

So far, $52,189.60 has been donated and Tauranga has just until the end of next week to give big to the Christmas Appeal, in partnership with Gilmours Wholesale Food and Beverage Tauriko, which will help people put food on the table this Christmas and well into next year.

NumberWorks'nWords, Trustpower, and Holland Beckett Law are just some of the businesses who have stepped up to the plate to fill another person's empty bowl.

Tauranga tutoring business NumberWorks'nWords is running a collection with a competitive edge where half-price tuition fees for term one were up for grabs.

For every item of food donated, parents got another draw in the chance to win. Each item donated gave them another chance to win.

NumberWorks'nWords owner Leanne Rhodes-Robinson said she believed luck played a large part in a person's circumstances, such as what family they were born in or their education level.

"It's thinking about the children who aren't coming through the doors [for tutoring]. Extra education is often a luxury item."

She said students and their families wholeheartedly supported the collection and the half-price fees acted as an extra incentive.

"They could just bring in a 70 cent can of baked beans but they choose to bring in more pricey items."

The business had run the programme for about a decade and around 300 items - or a carload - of food was donated each time.

Meanwhile, Holland Becket Law has celebrated 10 years of giving to the foodbank, with $19,533 donated since 2009.

Practice manager Sharline Fitzgerald said the business had a long-standing tradition of donated its TECT rebate cheque to the foodbank.

"We encourage businesses and community members to really think about these
additional funds and consider how they can help the wider community," Fitzgerald said.

"It is so good to know that every dollar and every food item donated is going to the people who need it most."

Trustpower has donated eight big boxes of food, with everything from toothpaste to spaghetti and $2000 to the cause.

Among the other donations include Rotary Club of Mount Maunganui donating $1000, St Johns Anglican Church giving $750.00 and $1000 from ANZ Commercial and Agri Bay of Plenty.

Three individual donors also gave $1000 each.