Octacan collection on target

Good weather and lively social media were likely contributors to the success of yesterday’s Octacan collection, to back Presbyterian Support Otago’s foodbank.

"It’s been absolutely fantastic," Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO) chief executive Jo Rowe said of the public response.

She was pleased to see PSO staff and volunteers taking part in an "amazing" event during which canned food was donated in Dunedin’s lower Octagon.

The 12th annual event ran from 7am to about 2.30pm, and by 3pm 11,000 cans had been counted for the PSO’s Family Works foodbank.

PSO supporter development manager Jude McCracken said the city community was "always extremely supportive of Presbyterian Support".

She was "pretty confident" the overall target of 14,000 cans would eventually be reached, as counting continued.

Better weather than last year’s and increased promotion via social media had been positive factors, she said.

Can counting would continue over the next couple of days and the final tally would be available next week.

Organisers said that because of Covid-19, many Dunedin families were experiencing hardship for the first time, and the economic fallout was expected to last well beyond winter.

Family Works practice manager Jollene Warrington said the Family Works foodbank was the city’s busiest and provided a "critical service".