"It went extremely well. It started with a flourish and a flurry with 17 schools coming in from 8am. It's great to see young people giving," Presbyterian Support communication and fundraising director Lisa Wells said.
"It's so nice to see so many people supporting the community. We heard lots of lovely stories from people about how we had supported them when they were in need and now they wanted to give something back."
A provisional total of 7742 food items was contributed yesterday. The cans were shaped into a koru in the lower Octagon.
The Octacan appeal raised 6524 food items last year.
"We're still expecting quite a few items to come in over the next few days, so we won't know this year's total until next week. We're hoping for around 9000 items, which is what we give away in a month. We hoped to build up our stocks by getting in one day what we give away in a month," Mrs Wells said.
"The most unusual item we got was an enormous can of Mexican beans, which will be interesting. There were mainly items like canned fish, spaghetti, baked beans, jams and fruit." The foodbank had received a 39% increase in requests for urgent assistance, compared with the corresponding period last year, Mrs Wells said.
"Comparing this last 12 months with the previous year, we've experienced a 20% increase across all services for children and families and we know this upward trend will continue for some time yet." People can still contribute to the appeal by dropping items off at Presbyterian Support in Moray Pl.
