The team at Colliers Tauranga have put some of their commissions towards a pool of $10,000 for a charity. Photo / Supplied
The team at Colliers Tauranga have put some of their commissions towards a pool of $10,000 for a charity. Photo / Supplied
The Bay of Plenty Times Christmas Appeal has been given an early cash boost after a local company donated $1500 to the cause.
The annual six-week appeal was launched on Saturday and aims to raise food and money for the Tauranga Community Foodbank in the lead-up to Christmas.
This week Colliers International Bay of Plenty has donated $1500 to the foodbank and is considering it for an extra $10,000 boost.
Colliers agent Grant White said the team had decided to donate a pool of contributions from agents' commissions to seven local charities this Christmas.
White said they decided to donate the cash rather than food after a discussion with the foodbank, which would be able to purchase what they needed and when.
Tauranga Community Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin said the cash donation was a "huge" and "pleasant" surprise.
She said while it would be good to win the $10,000, just being nominated was lovely.
It would mean the Foodbank had money in the bag when it needed to buy food, and the next big shop would be chicken for the Christmas food parcels.
Last year's Christmas foodbank appeal raised a record $190,990 - including a last-minute $30,000 donation from Tauranga company Synergy Technologies, on top of massive generosity from the community and local businesses.
A total of $132,000 in cash and 29,495 food items worth $58,990 was raised by the appeal's final day.
More than 16,000 people have needed help from the organisation this year and a record amount of food has been given to those in need.
This included 8897 children, which worked out to about 200,000 meals.
