Christmas appeal: Donations higher than last year for Zorb Rotorua’s can-for-a-ride day

Zorb Rotorua ‘s annual can-for-a-ride day saw 350 people taking part and 1750 cans collected for the Salvation Army foodbank.

The day for Rotorua residents was booked out within a couple of hours on their website, a record for the event.

Zorb’s can-for-a-ride day has collected donations for the Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal since 2017.

Supported by The Hits Rotorua 97.5FM, the appeal runs until December 23 and aims to collect donations of food and money to help fill the foodbank’s shelves and assist the Salvation Army with its work through the Christmas period and into 2024.

In 2022, the appeal raised $76,500 worth of donations as the soaring cost of living forced some people out of their homes and pushed others to their financial limits.

This year, the appeal has raised $67,416.10 and comes at a time when many are struggling with a cost of living crisis. While food and money was welcomed, anyone wanting to help but struggling with this can consider donating their time.

Zorbs ready to go for the annual can-for-a-ride event as a part of the Rotorua Salvation Army Christmas Appeal.

Zorb general manager Steph Smith has been involved in the can-for-a-ride day for the past four years and said “the day is always a highlight for us”.

“We love to be able to do our bit for the community and it’s not a very nice time of year for the people needing foodbank.

“It’s great there’s something we can do to make it a little bit sweeter or make things a little less hard,” said Smith

She said more than 1750 cans were collected compared to about 1500 in 2022.

This meant $4375 worth of donations were given to the Salvation Army.

Boxes of canned food stacked up are a part of the donations for Zorb's can-for-a-ride day.

Bookings were essential for the free rides, as well as proof of Rotorua residence and at least three cans of non-perishable food.

Canned spaghetti and baked beans were the most popular donation, a trend the Zorb team has seen every year since the event began.

For three cans, a person could go on a straight ride and for 10 cans they a straight ride and a sidewinder ride could be experienced.

The sidewinder ride is usually priced at $65 and is “the twistiest Zorb track ever constructed”, with one to two people per Zorb whizzing around six massive corners and sliding in 40 litres of water.

Mostly families attended this year’s even but people of all ages took part.

Harriet Laughton is a multi-media journalist based in the Bay of Plenty.