Can drive makes a dent in Motueka food insecurity

Riley Harrison was something of a form class hero when he arrived at school with 100 cans to add to the class’s can drive total.

Riley paid for the cans himself – well, more or less. The 18-year-old works at Kaiteri Kayaks and says the cans were purchased using money he has found while working at the beach.

In total, Motueka High School’s students collected close to 800 tins.
This haul is being matched by Fonterra through its Hapori grant, meaning 1500 cans are on their way to bolster the supplies at Motueka’s food banks.

Motueka Foodshare coordinator Charlaine Greaney says the organisation puts together more than 80 food boxes a week, and she believes the donation will make a big difference.

“Something like this will be huge for the community because I would say that a lot of people can’t afford to buy tinned food now. It’ll be huge.”

The initiative was spearheaded by students Ava Kubo and Sonny Campbell, with help from Finyas Bender and Jenni Howells, all 16, as part of their Year 12 Global Studies class.

“Fonterra gave us this amazing opportunity,” Ava says. “We’re so grateful to them. It kind of all just fit into place perfectly.”

She says she feels “really grateful” that they have been able to help so many people.

The week-long can drive was held as a friendly competition between school form classes to see who could collect the most items. Fox form class emerged as the winner, thanks to Riley – and the people who misplaced their cash on Kaiteri’s golden sand.

The students say they would love to make the can drive an annual fixture, and the Fonterra staff have already given them the green light to reach out about funding for next year.

Conor Carr, Fonterra’s environmental manager for Tākaka and Brightwater, says the student-led effort aligned perfectly with the grant’s aims.

“It sounds like the students pretty much did all the work, which is amazing.”