Clyde and District Lions Club project co-ordinator Kate Whyte said the Whangarei Lions Club, along with other Northland community groups, collected about two tonnes of citrus fruit from their area which was transported by Mainfreight, free of charge, to Cromwell.
Clyde and District Lions Club members got together and packed bags with a variety of fruit including tangelos, grapefruit, lemons, oranges, and mandarins.
The Whangarei Lions Club advertised the date they would be accepting donations and everyone from home gardeners to roadside foragers turned up with their offerings, Mrs Whyte said.
Clyde residents over 65 were the target group for the gifts, an annual event which started about three years ago.
"The club decided people had had it hard the last three or four years with the pandemic and the way the cost of living has gone and we just thought it was one way to get something into the seniors. They seem to get forgotten ... they won’t buy the fruit because they need meds or need to get something else. It’s one way we can show them they are not forgotten."
Fruit had also been delivered to Living Options, at Dunstan Hospital, the Salvation Army shop in Alexandra, where it was offered to customers and the Lions food pantry in Clyde.
Once the Lions had distributed as much as they could, any fruit left would be donated to the foodbank.
