Christmas Appeal: Food drive will come to you

From left, Kat Hicks and Paul Hickey from The Hits and Rotorua Daily Post deputy editor Katie Holland. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

A major 12-hour food drive is planned to stock up the Salvation Army's shelves with a bus full of food.

Fill the Bus is being run by The Hits 97.5FM alongside the Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal in support of the Salvation Army Foodbank.

Instead of the annual can drive, Paul Hickey from The Hits said this year would see a dedicated 12-hour campaign next Wednesday, December 9, with the bus making stops throughout the city to collect food items for the appeal.

Mr Hickey said in the past the can drives had concentrated on just a couple of areas, but the new concept gave the whole city a chance to get involved.

"The feedback we've got in the past has been 'what about us?' so we thought we would do something a bit different."

He said the plan had been made possible with the support of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Reesby Buses.

The final route of the bus was still being finalised but Mr Hickey said it would travel around schools, big businesses, supermarkets and suburban shopping malls between 7am and 7pm.

Mr Hickey said various local identities would be on board the bus during the day.

"It's quite exciting to do something a bit different."

He said the aim was for the bus to stop within a reasonable distance for most people.

Rotorua Daily Post deputy editor Katie Holland said the newspaper staff were excited to be part of the Fill the Bus day.

"It's great the campaign allows us a wider reach in the community, and it means people shouldn't have to travel far to drop off items to the bus," she said.

"Hopefully by the end of the day that bus will be jam-packed with food!"

Full schedules and routes of Fill the Bus will be published on the Rotorua Daily Post and The Hits 97FM websites once finalised.