Local Focus: Emergency services food run a success

It's the first week of December and Christmas isn't the only thing just around the corner.

Pāpāmoa's emergency services are holding their annual food run, where locals donate food from the comfort of their driveway.

"We do it annually in the first week of December and basically get all the emergency services together and we do a food drive throughout Pāpāmoa," Bruce Banks from Neighbourhood Support said.

Food collected from the run is donated to the Pāpāmoa Family Services centre, which then sends it out to the community.

Similar events also take place in Tauranga, Greerton and Mount Maunganui, with donations going to their local foodbanks.

"We set up a bunch of teams and we go through the streets bit by bit behind an emergency vehicle with light and sirens making lots of noise, getting lots of attention, and collecting mega-loads of food," Banks said.

One-hundred-and-twenty-five people signed up to be volunteers in Pāpāmoa alone this year.

"It's a really worthy cause," Nick Bradford from V8 Trike Tours said.

"I live in Pāpāmoa, I don't often get the chance to do this because we're normally out working on the cruise ships but this year we've had the chance to do it and we're just so grateful.

"And as I think you've probably seen, the generosity from people in the last hour has been amazing."

Some residents are more prepared than others, but that's what the sirens are for, reminding people to rush to their kitchen to grab what they can.

"It's Christmas, the season of giving," Pāpāmoa resident Bernard Christabel said.

"Plus with the year we've had it just feels good to be able to give back."

Alistair Kerr said: "It's a good time of year to give food to people who need it."

Banks said that the food collected in last year's drive was sufficient to keep the foodbank in food for the year.

Organisers say this year's generosity was staggering, making a real difference to those in need, at Christmas and beyond.

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