A van and a plan attracts donations for foodbanks

Steph Cardno-Fa'asega holds a collection of food and other necessities yesterday which will be donated to Dunedin's foodbanks. Photo / Peter McIntosh

When Steph Cardno-Fa'asega heard Dunedin's foodbanks were almost empty she decided to use the two things she had at her disposal — time and a really big van.

Earlier this week the Otago Daily Times reported Dunedin's four foodbanks — the Presbyterian Support Otago, Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul and Mosgiel Community foodbanks — were almost empty.

It comes as Dunedin's annual Christmas can appeal was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions.

After reading about the shortage, Steph Cardno-Fa'asega was wondering what she could do to help, she said.

She was looking in the back of her van and realised if she could fill it with donations then she could make a real difference.

As the mother of a disabled son, she had a large van which was usually used to transport his disability equipment, she said.

As a home-based mother of three boys, she would be able to accept donations from friends and family throughout the day.

Originally she had no desire to make her plans public, but after sharing the idea with her friends it proved more popular than she thought.

She had already had nine bags of food donated after posting on Facebook about her plans and everyone had been supportive of the idea.

People were really grateful for the chance to help out, she said.

She expected to fill the entire van and had a trailer that could be used if there were enough donations.

That food would be delivered to local foodbanks on Monday morning, she said.

Takeichi New Zealand in St Andrew St is accepting public donations for the drive.