4000 cans can help at Christmas

by NZ CATHOLIC staff
On September 18, ten Catholic schools and the Pompallier Diocesan Centre banded together to run a programme called Cans for Christmas.

This project was a mufti day whereby payment was a can of food, which was then to be donated to the Mercy Hospice and St Vincent de Paul.
The outcome was amazing, with more than 4000 cans collected and donated.
Director of Religious Studies, Middle School, Billy Hadnett, said he started the project thinking more could be done as a collective of schools than individually.
“So out went the invitation for primary and secondary schools to join in,” he said.
“I wanted to use the idea that we had done many times at school with great results, and increase the can count in order to make a real difference. That is the reason we invited other Catholic schools to join in on the project.”
This year saw the following schools involved with the project.
St Peter’s College (Grafton), St Mary’s Primary (Avondale), St Michaels (Remuera), St Joseph’s (Orakei), Sancta
Maria College, Sancta Maria Primary (Flat Bush), Christ the King Primary (Owairaka) , St Therese Primary (Three Kings), St Dominic’s Primary (Blockhouse Bay), Monte Cecilia Primary (Mt Roskill), as well as the Pompallier Diocesan Centre.

The goal for this year was easily surpassed, Mr Hadnett said.
“We set out to collect 3000-3500 cans, and collected a little over 4000.” Next year’s goal will be to collect at least 8000.
“The 4000 cans that were collected and delivered to the Mercy Hospice and St Vincent de Paul are said to be able to help 850 families around Auckland. This at a time just before the Christmas season is fantastic,” Mr Hadnett said.
Next year Cans for Christmas will be on Friday September 16.
To register: [email protected]