Papamoa College students have helped out the Tauranga Community Foodbank in the lead up to Christmas, donating items to the charity as part of their final mufti day of the year.

Papamoa College teacher Kylie Price says the school's foodbank appeal is an annual feature of the last term.

'Every term has two mufti days that we use to support local charities, such as the Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club and the Papamoa Toy Library,” says Kylie. 'But in Term Four that's always the foodbank.”

Students from Year 7-10 took part on Friday, as the seniors had by this time left to sit their exams. Kylie's own students organised the mufti day, including ringing the foodbank to find out which items were most important.

'They said pasta and baking items were the most sought after, so we put that out to the students. We ended up with a whole container of pasta, plus sauces and cans.

'Staff took part as well, and we filled an entire container ourselves.”

The foodbank will be coming to pick up the donations today, along with a cheque for $109.

'We know they're short of food at this time of year, so it was great to be able to help,” says Kylie.