QuakeAid goods welcomed in Christchurch

ROTORUA 20.01.11: Rotorua’s generosity in donating more than 30,0000 non-perishable food and household items in last Saturday’s Quake Aid street collection has been welcomed in Christchurch by the Salvation Army which is leading the food distribution programme for earthquake affected residents.

The Salvation Army’s Captain Mike Allright said the containers had arrived this morning and his team was already at work unloading them.

In a message sent to Rotorua District Council’s Castlecorp business manager Mijo Katavic, Captain Allright expressed his sincere thanks for “helping us to help others.”

“Thank you for all the work that you and your teams have done for us. It has been one month since the earthquake and the work still continues.

“From the warehouse we are still pushing out up to 500 food parcels a day into a number of organisations working in different parts of affected communities. As families start to move back to Christchurch we are seeing the need to increase again.

"Two of the six large supermarkets have reopened and so you can imagine the lines of people, but there are many people still living in shock who struggle with the ability to choose what food to buy. The thought of entering a supermarket is too much for them to cope with at present."

“Some of our teams are still finding people who are struggling with the day-to-day basics and who are afraid to leave their homes.

“So once again, thank you for all your support. Every time a shipment of goods comes in from different communities of New Zealand I thank God that we live in a country where we do support each other," Captain Allright said.

Rotorua QuakeAid coordinator Mijo Katavic said he was very pleased to hear that Rotorua’s QuakeAid containers had reached Christchurch so quickly and that the food and supplies were being distributed to people in real need of assistance.

“It’s humbling to receive such heartfelt thanks from Canterbury but it’s immensely satisfying to know that the Rotorua community’s generous effort in supporting the QuakeAid project is making a real difference where it's needed,” he said.

ENDS

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