Children around the country have been collecting cans to help struggling families with food support.

In 2017, The Salvation Army gave out over 62,000 food parcels to 30,000 families in need, on average is two parcels per family.

Around four in 10 NZ households go hungry or skip a meal because of poverty.

Local Tauranga schools are taking part in the Wattie's Cans For Good programme.

Andy Cochrane, a teacher from Matua School says that they have collected over 800 cans.

'The aim is to collect 1000 cans. We have already collected 800 plus a collection of other food items to help support the promotion.”

Resource teachers from the region are also getting involved. Cluster manager Marie Peterson says that they are happy to help.

'My team are incredibly dedicated, they have big hearts and very day we see children, families, teachers and schools struggling to provide and mitigate the effects of poverty in our schools.”

'The Salvation Army does a tremendous job in our communities and we felt, as a staff that we'd like to do something to help.”

'Being part of this collection does two things: it both highlights and reminds communities of our obligation to help and also it's practical. Collecting cans and distributing them to the food banks is a practical way to get food to those in need,” says Marie.

'We're happy to help. We get involved in a number of community events - we have our day of community work, where each of our staff volunteered for a day supporting various groups and schools across the Bay.”

'Having strong communities supports our children, and children who are loved and supported do much better at school. It's part of the big picture, isn't it? After all, it takes a village to grow a child.”

The Wattie's Cans For Good can collection runs from August 13 to August 24.