Weary crews request socks and sunscreen

sorting donations at the Nelson Suburbs Football Club, where she usually works as a caretaker.

‘‘We’ve been inundated with chapsticks after we put the call out, now it’s sunscreen we’re desperate for.’’

The club is a hive of organised chaos: visitors are greeted at the door, boxes of toothpaste, soap and toys wait to be dispatched and a line of sandwich makers work with uncommon haste.

It had been like that for the past five days, since Goff first threw open the doors to people who wanted to help, she said.

Truckloads of vegetables and watermelons were donated and local restaurants and cafes had sent meals.

Fresh food, meat packs, bird food and items for children’s school lunches were still needed as the volunteers braced for more evacuees in the days ahead.