Sally Hoskins wasted no time when she spotted the familiar green bus at Rotorua’s Redwoods Centre, darting into the nearby fruit and vegetable shop to grab a donation before the Fill the Bus appeal moved on.
Hoskins led the way as the first donor during this year’s food drive and set the pace as her hurried dash foreshadowed the busy, fast-moving day ahead.
Fill the Bus was on the road today for its 11th year.
The can-appeal-on-wheels is run by The Hits Rotorua 97.5FM as part of the Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal, which launched on November 15.
The appeal runs for six weeks, supporting the Rotorua Salvation Army Foodbank.
A CityRide bus, donated for the day by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, travelled around the city gathering food collected by generous Rotorua businesses, schools and organisations.
Starting early in the morning, the bus stopped at supermarkets, shopping centres and workplaces, collecting donations from members of the public alongside large hauls gathered through organised school and business drives.
At each stop, volunteers worked quickly to unload boxes and baskets filled with canned goods, pasta, rice and other long-life essentials, stacking them tightly inside the bus before moving on to the next location.
One of the first public donation points was Four Square Edmund Road, where owner Calum Sutherland came out with a trolley-load of items.
Sutherland said it was the store’s second year supporting Fill the Bus and he thought the campaign was “awesome”.
The store set up donation boxes for customers to drop off items, allowing people to contribute if they were unable to catch the bus. Sutherland continued collecting items until late afternoon today.
Students were crowding around the bus at Otonga Road Primary School, calling out and asking for a ride as they dropped off their cans.
Otonga was the first school stop of 13.
Principal Gareth Cunliffe said the school had a competition between classrooms to see who could collect the most cans. Hundreds of food items were gathered – Room 8 collecting the most with 105 cans.
Cunliffe said they loved getting involved, and the initiative was a way of “teaching our tamariki to look after people who are less fortunate”.
At Rotorua Intermediate School, head boy Lewis Burns said the school encouraged every student to contribute something, an approach that resulted in boxes of donations being collected as students had “really come through”.
The youngest contributors today were pre-schoolers from Rotorua Girls’ High School Childcare Trust.
Centre manager Chrissie Dender said the Fill the Bus can collection had become a daily ritual for the children over the past few weeks as they tracked the growing donations each day and proudly reminded their parents to add an item when they went to the supermarket.
Dender said the pre-schoolers understood the donations were going to help others.
“Watching the children’s faces … they get really excited about it."
Event organiser and The Hits Rotorua host Paul Hickey said Malfroy School students proved each year to be the most “excitable” on Fill the Bus day.
Fill the Bus driver Anna Lee said, “Malfroy was insanely loud.”
It was Lee’s first year taking part in the campaign and she enjoyed seeing the response from schools across Rotorua.
A lifelong Rotorua resident, Lee said she had spent 13 years working as a bus driver. Today was a good change from her usual urban bus routes, she said.
Glenholme School was a close competitor for loudness, with students singing and cheering as the Grinch and Salvation Army mascot “Shieldy” broke out their dance moves.
The school’s donation drive was centred on a disco, with students asked to bring at least one can of food to attend, while families were encouraged to give more if they were able.
About 1000 cans were collected, with a Year 2 and 3 class leading the way with 126 cans and earning a shared lunch as a reward.
Deputy principal Molly Morton described the disco as “fantastic, chaotic, fun, wonderful” and a highlight for both students and staff.
Rotokawa School also brought some friendly competition to its Fill the Bus efforts this year, turning the can drive into a house challenge – and food items were still arriving the morning of collection.
Damar Industries Ltd had its “most successful” collection yet.
Chief operating officer Darin Hills said the company had been involved in the campaign throughout his three and a half years on-site, and this year turned its efforts into a “12 Days of Christmas” initiative.
Hills estimated close to 1000 food items had been collected, boxed and palletised for donation back into the Rotorua community. Hills said one team was responsible for around 500 of those items.
When the bus pulled up outside the Rotorua Lakes Council building this afternoon, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell hopped on with donated items, saying it was encouraging to see the bus filling so quickly.
Tapsell said the campaign came at a difficult time for many households and she wanted every family to be able to enjoy a classic Christmas, including that “full puku feeling” followed by a “nap”.
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.