The annual Octacan mid-winter foodbank appeal for Presbyterian Support Otago is under pressure to be more successful than ever before.
An increase in the number of Dunedin families seeking emergency help this year has placed extra demand on the organisation's Family Works foodbank. And so, PSO social workers are crossing their fingers that the can appeal, to be held on Thursday, will top last year's total of 14,577 donations.
‘‘We try to go bigger and better every year, and this is our eighth year of Octacan,'' PSO communication, fundraising and marketing director Monica Lindemann said.
‘‘Unfortunately, demand also goes up every year, so we are really pushing to see if we can get another 1000 cans on top of what we achieved last year.
‘‘It will be a big ask, since last year was a record, but we hope the people of Dunedin keep up that spirit.''
It would be nice one year to be able to say that demand had not grown, but times were hard for many people, Ms Lindemann said.
People who were poor were not always unemployed, but could be working for low wages. Any extra money that was usually for groceries could be needed elsewhere if an unexpected bill arrived.
‘‘It can be very challenging for people, and in many cases they are just unlucky,'' she said.
PSO funding co-ordinator Jasmin Graham said school groups embraced the project, with teachers often using it to introduce topics around poverty and philanthropy. Many local businesses were also supporting it, she said.
This year's Octacan appeal was off to a good start, with almost 800 cans already donated by local groups.
Octacan will be held from 7.30am to 2.30pm next Thursday, in the Lower Octagon.
