A new headquarters has been painted with military precision by a ''scarfie army'' in Dunedin.
FoodShare chief executive Deborah Manning said the army of 14 Otago Polytechnic students painted two coats on the interior walls of the new FoodShare headquarters on the corner of Ward and Halsey Sts this week.
''These guys just motored through it.''
Ms Manning said since FoodShare began in 2012, it had rescued and redistributed nearly 68 tonnes of fresh food - the equivalent of 193,667 meals, The charity had been given the building and had been given grants from two Dunedin trusts to fit it out.
Plumbing and electrical work would begin after Easter. Then the vinyl and carpeting would be laid and a freezer and walk-in chiller would be installed.
A chiller would allow food close to or just past its best-before date or close to its use-by date to be collected every day.
Dunedin Timebank members washed ''six years of filth'' from the walls last weekend, Ms Manning said.
Otago Polytechnic Foundation Learning 2IC Jessica Thompson said the students were from the Maori trade training course and the trades taster course.