Bring out your citrus: Whangārei's Citrus for the South collection on again

Lions Club member Denis Parkes with one of the banana boxes of fruit collected at a previous Citrus for the South event in Whangārei. The annual collection is on again this Sunday.

While many Northlanders are wondering what to do with their mid-winter citrus fruit overload, Whangārei's Lions Clubs have a good solution - bring them along this Sunday and they will be sent to Christchurch and Dunedin, which can't grow citrus fruit.

Whangārei's Lions Clubs - Whangārei, Whangārei Hatea, Hikurangi, Onerahi and Kamo - have organised another Citrus for the South campaign to collect unwanted citrus fruit from the region to send to charities in Christchurch and Dunedin.

And this year there will be a new venue, with the collection at the southern end of the ASB Stadium carpark in Kensington on Sunday from 8.30am to 2pm, replacing the Forum North collection point that has been used in the previous years six years.

Terry Ward, organiser from Whangārei Lions Club, said the collections usually gathered about five tonnes of fruit to send south, with sweet oranges and lemons particularly sought after.

The fruit will be packed into banana boxes and transported to the South Island free of charge by Mainfreight, Ward said.

He said keeping the different fruits separate would help with the packing, with the fruit being distributed to more than 2300 families in the two southern cities.

''They don't grow citrus down there, and they really appreciate the fruit we send down. It really makes a difference to so many families down there,'' he said.

This year's haul will be delivered to fruit and vege co-ops for distribution among 30 distribution sites in Christchurch and fruit will also go to Dunedin.

Food Together, a charity that distributes the fruit to those in need in Christchurch, said it was distributed to about 1500 families and thanked Northlanders for their generosity.

KiwiHarvest in Dunedin also expressed its gratitude to Northlanders for the citrus fruit.

People with excess citrus fruit can take it to ASB Stadium carpark in Kensington, Whangārei, on Sunday between 8.30am and 2pm. It will be sent to help residents in the deep south enjoy some free mid-winter citrus.