Demand has never been higher for Tauranga Community Foodbank.
Hundreds of donations poured in for the Tauranga Community Foodbank as The Hits Christmas movie night doubled attendees on last year.
The Hits Christmas Movie in the Park screened the Christmas classic The Grinch at a free community movie night on Saturday, in partnership with Pacific Toyota.
NZME’s Bay of Plenty promotions manager Hamish Gleeson said the event “blew all expectations out of the water” and doubled the attendees when compared to last year with about 1000 people heading down on Saturday.
With the sun out, families everywhere and Christmas music playing, he said it felt like “classic summer Christmas vibes”.
Attendees donated 536 food items, most of which were canned goods, and valued at $1340 with the foodbank valuing each item at $2.50.
“Some very kind people were donating amazing goods like Essano skin care products, someone donated a whole bunch of women’s period care products, and we even got some pegs,” Gleeson said.
Gleeson thanked everyone for supporting the event, with every item donated making the “difference between someone getting food or not”.
About 1000 people attended The Hits Christmas in the Park for the Tauranga Community Foodbank. Photo / Hamish Gleeson
Its 12-month food budget was spent in five months, and it needed to make changes to the types of food it purchased.
As a result, the foodbank hasn’t been able to include snack foods for families such as two-minute noodles, muesli bars, chips or crackers in the average of 33 parcels sent out each day.
Cash donations were also welcomed, as they meant the foodbank could purchase items it needed when it needed them.
