Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Listen for the siren call to help
The siren will sound, and continue to sound, and everyone will stop and think, ‘wow, must be a big one’.
Then they’ll see the hi-vis vests making their way up the street and the penny will drop.
Yes, it’s that time of year again; and the Marlborough Community Food Bank is hoping for another successful food haul.
About 200 volunteers will march the streets on Monday to help lighten the load for those less fortunate this festive season.
They will go around the houses from 6pm to 8pm in the hope residents will donate as many cans and non-perishables as they can spare.
Marlborough Community Food Bank manager Wynnie Cosgrove said the shelves were almost bare and need restocked before the Christmas rush.
Cosgrove said the food bank was short of staple food items, such as rice, flour, sugar and pasta.
The food went to people in the community facing hardship and struggling to make ends meet.
The food bank worked with different social welfare organisations across Marlborough to determine who needed assistance.
She was hopeful this year’s appeal would prove as successful as previous years.
‘‘We are expecting a good turnout,’’ Cosgrove said.
Last year, the food bank was donated ‘‘about 500 banana boxes worth of goods’’ during the twohour haul.
Groups of volunteers would walk around Blenheim, Picton, Renwick, Havelock, Grovetown, Spring Creek, Rarangi and Seddon collecting food items, accompanied by fire engines.
More FM was one of the organisations sponsoring the event.
More FM announcer Tasha Knox was looking forward to volunteering her time to the cause.
Knox said it was a ‘‘brilliant event and well supported by the community’’.
She said the appeal was ‘‘always well received’’ and was ‘‘expecting a fantastic response’’.
Knox and the More FM team were going to hit the streets in Springlands on Monday.
Thirty-two per cent of food parcels that went out last year were to households where one or more occupants were in paid employment.
During the 2016-2017 financial year the Marlborough Community Food Bank sent out 12,050 food parcels to 3500 individuals, worth $150,000.
Donations from the food drive, community gardens, orchards and other community groups all helped keep supplies of fruit and vegetables steady too.
If you miss the collection and would like to donate, you can take your cans and non-perishable food items to supermarkets and put them in the food bank donations box. Donations can also be made at any time through the Salvation Army.