Octacan was held in June and was another demonstration of generous support from the Otago community.
For our eleventh Octacan, the day began with cold temperatures and frosty ground. This didn’t stop the public, and donations started being dropped off at 7am. Across the day many generous people and groups came along with cans and food items to fill the nine hearts drawn in the Octagon.
This year’s Octacan was no different to others, attracting a positive atmosphere with families, businesses, schools, students, kindergartens, individuals and halls of residence making the trip down to the Octagon to add their donations to the hearts.
Supporter Development Manager Jude McCracken said, “The community was very generous again this year, and it was wonderful to see a number of people of all ages coming to the Octagon to be involved. We collected a total of 11,749 cans in the Octagon on that day.”
“We see the community show ongoing support throughout the year with donations being brought into Family Works. Without this support we couldn’t do what we do.”
Our annual street appeal was held on the same day as Octacan, with collectors stationed at local supermarkets and the central city. Thanks to those volunteers and the public we received a total of $5,545 to assist with extra foodbank needs.
“Octacan is not just an event to collect donations to restock the shelves, but a reminder that there are people out there who need the support we can provide. The community response to this need is always very generous and humbling to see.”
We would like to thank Better Moves for providing their help with shifting cans at the end of the day – they made an enormous job look effortless and easy. An additional thank you to Storage King Dunedin and MediaWorks for their ongoing support of Octacan.
We would also like to thank all volunteers who helped on the day, with our street appeal and with moving cans post-event. Many hands definitely made lighter work!
To all groups and individuals that showed they care by bringing donations we say a simple, but heartfelt, thank you.
Find out more about the foodbank, including how to make a donation at any time.
