A Christchurch foodbank is making its own appeal to the public to help catch thieves who stole frozen food that could have fed more than 1000 people.
The thieves broke into 0800 Hungry's ten-foot freezer overnight, stealing a large amount of food - including ham, salmon, prawns, chicken and ice cream.
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The food, which was only recently delivered, could have feed over 200 households, says chief executive Kerry Bensemann.
"Somebody got light-fingered and unlocked the chiller," he explained.
"They've come in and taken it away. That's meant for people that are in need, and really they are stealing from the poor - and that's pretty low."
Police fingerprinted the container on Thursday, but it appeared the thieves wore gloves.
"We've decided to go public; there's too much to be keeping in their home freezer they will be giving it out to family and friends.
"We're just really asking the friends and family - if they get offered the high-end products like whole hams and sides of salmons and prawns and the rest of that - just ring 0800 Hungry because these people need to pay for what they have done you know stealing from the poor is as low as you can go."
Food has never been stolen from the foodbank before and volunteers were shocked and upset when they heard the news, warehouse supervisor Nicky Bensemann says.
"The lady that usually works on the chilled and the frozens, when I told her, she had to sit down - she was nearly in tears.
"She just couldn't believe that someone would come in and do this."
The foodbank plans to put extra security measures in place to avoid this happening in the future.
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