RSA benefits from supermarket support

Countdown Rotorua store manager Keith Whiteman in front of the store's commemorative poppy board. Photo / Ben Fraser

A Rotorua supermarket is giving customers a chance to express their support for the RSA with donations and personal messages in the lead up to Anzac Day. Shoppers at Countdown on Fenton St are able to purchase poppies and make an RSA donation at checkouts in the store.

Before leaving the store, they are also invited to write a message on a paper poppy to stick on a commemorative board in the window.

The hope is the board will be filled with messages of support by next Saturday's Anzac Day, which will mark 100 years since the fateful Gallipoli campaign.

The store's service and admin manager, Marie Alldcroft, said she was happy that Countdown was taking an active role in supporting the RSA.

She said her grandfather had fought in World War II, and had been an RSA member. While she had already written her own message to go on the wall, she said, for many, it was not easy deciding what to say.

"For some people it brings about something deeply personal, and for others it's about recognising what our soldiers fought for."

Ms Alldcroft praised the RSA for the work it did for veterans.

"It's giving them [the soldiers] that support through the ages, and it has done important work."

Countdown stores across the country are raising money for the organisation, which provides support for men and women returning from duty with the armed forces.

Rotorua store manager Keith Whiteman said efforts to support the RSA were particularly important leading up to this year's Anzac Day. "It's always important, but this being the 100th anniversary [of Gallipoli] we want to do something special."