Bunbury students collect more than 5200 non-perishable food items for annual Give a Damn, Give a Can drive

Bunbury students have been busy collecting cans for those in need with more than 5200 non-perishable food items donated to the annual Give a Damn, Give a Can drive.

The initiative, organised by the Greater Bunbury Rotary Club, gathers food items to be donated to the Intown Centre, St Vincent de Paul’s and the Salvation Army with 21 schools helping out this year.

Of the 5200 cans collected this year, Kingston Primary School lead the way with about 1180 cans, followed by South Bunbury Primary School with 750.

Picton Primary School collected the most cans per student with around 490 cans at an average of 2.9 cans per student.

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School were runners-up in that count with about 720 cans averaging 2.1 cans per student.

Greater Bunbury Rotary spokesperson Vic Puzey said the results were “wonderful” with the recipients describing the donations as a “gift from heaven”.

“They really need the food to distribute to the needy people that come to them,” he said.

“I think our top year was 2021 when there were over 10,000 cans donated by the schools, but with COVID there was quite a significant drop and things have got down to about 5000 cans or items for the last couple of years.

“I think the campaign will continue — the need will always be there, and the people who received were delighted.”