With the Otaki Foodbank shelves near empty, the Meadows Church collection of cans and non-perishable foods, two weeks ago, arrived at a very fortunate time.
Two van loads of boxes were unloaded with 1447 items donated soon filling the pantry shelves for use in the next few weeks. Members of the church had manned stalls at New World Otaki and Countdown supermarkets, collecting food items donated by the Saturday shoppers.
“We did count bags of oranges as one, not each orange,” grinned spokesman, Callan Nikora. But the double tray packs of beans and spaghetti did count as 24 tins to a pack!
Thank you very much everyone for your support,” Manager, Lucy Tahere, said. There had been a heavy demand on the foodbank with over 60 parcels a month going out to people in the community.
“Stocked shelves don’t mean people can walk in and demand a parcel. They still have to follow our regulations and bring in an official referral.” she said.
The foodbank volunteers are getting ready for the Christmas rush in December and will welcome all donations of festive non-perishable items for clients Christmas parcels.
Over a hundred Otaki cars were washed by an enthusiastic band of volunteers recently.
26 members of the Meadows Church spent Saturday morning collecting for the Food Bank, and washing cars. While your car was washed, you could gorge yourself on a Hot Dog from the Sausage Sizzle, and all for free! Pastor Spencer Nutsford said this was the third year that they’ve celebrated Love on Otaki. Good work, team!