Volunteers at the University of Otago student union work
their way through hundreds of donated packed lunches to be
taken to Christchurch. Photo by Linda Robertson.
Dunedin and other southern people donated more than
17,000 packed lunches at the weekend to feed an army of
volunteers carrying out Christchurch earthquake relief work.
"We were blown away by the response from Dunedin," University
of Otago student Nic Twaddle said.
"There was a steady stream of Dunedinites walking through the
door all day, dropping off bags and boxes."
He was "overwhelmed" by the generosity of people in Dunedin,
Otago-Southland and elsewhere in donating non-perishable
lunch packs to the Otago University Union building on
Saturday - with contributions far exceeding the initial
10,000 pack target.
"It's definitely been the best case scenario in terms of the
support the community has come out with."
The southern community had clearly "got the message"after
Otago University students appealed for non-perishable lunches
to be donated on campus.
Mr Twaddle, who, with Otago University campus pastor Josh
Eyre, has been helping co-ordinate tertiary student
volunteers in Dunedin, said about 300 Dunedin volunteers had
initially aimed to collect 10,000 non-perishable lunches to
be sent to the 2000-strong University of Canterbury Student
Volunteer Army at the weekend.
The Christchurch volunteers are working in non-critical
outlying areas, clearing silt and lifting bricks for those
requiring assistance.
Some of the food would also be passed on to Christchurch
residents in need, he added.
The strong southern backing would allow the Christchurch
volunteers to get on with helping the "wider Christchurch
community".
The first 2000 lunches reached Christchurch before daybreak
yesterday in an Otago University Students Association van
driven by association president Harriet Geoghegan and
communications co-ordinator Alasdair Johnston.
The rest of the lunches were driven north at 8am yesterday in
a truck-trailer supplied by Northern Southland Transport Ltd.
The southern business community had provided strong support
for the food pack initiative, including Otago Packaging
Supplies Ltd, which provided 800 boxes to carry the food
packs.
The Otago Farmers Market had also donated a trailer load of
apples, nectarines and other fresh fruit which had already
been delivered to Christchurch, and a woman had driven up
from Invercargill with 500 lunch packs to donate at the Otago
campus.
Two commercial crates of apples were also sent to
Christchurch by apple growers in Hawkes Bay who were
responding to the Otago student initiative, he said.
john.gibb@odt.co.nz
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