Tuesday night’s Emergency Services Neighbourhood Support food drive around parts of Mount Maunganui, Mataphihi, Ōtumoetai and Maungatapu was a huge success.
Police, Fire, Ambulance and Search and Rescue officers joined volunteers from Neighbourhood Support to walk the streets with sirens blaring and lights flashing to collect non-perishable food from households, who turned out in droves to watch the fun.
The collection was done contactless with people putting their gifts on the ground for the runners to pick up, but there were lots of smiles and happy kids around the streets.
Women in one retirement village, Pacific Lakes in Girven Road, had made up little parcels of special toiletry items for women as Christmas gifts. Mount organiser, Constable Kurt Waugh said as well as being a fun event for everyone involved, the collection was a huge success across all areas.
“Lots of food donations were collected, meaning the food banks can help those in need over Christmas and into the new year. I’d say it was the largest collection in my five years of organising the event.”
Neighbourhood Support Ōmanu Area Coordinator Linda Thompson said families came out of their houses to see the emergency vehicles, and the generosity of households was overwhelming.
All the food was delivered to the Salvation Army in the Mount to be made up into food parcels for needy families.
Police, Fire Emergency, St John, Search and Rescue and Neighbourhood Support thank all the volunteers who helped out in this year’s food drive.
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