A telethon of a different sorts is getting underway at Lincoln University.

Charity Meat the Need is hosting The Big Feed, where farmers donate livestock and milk to foodbanks and City Missions for families in need.

It's New Zealand's first ever rural telethon, starting at 6am, and being livestreamed across Facebook and YouTube for 12 hours today.

Co-founder Wayne Langford told Roman Travers they started during the Covid lockdowns in 2020 and carried on since.

He says it seems silly there are Kiwis going hungry when they have so much food to share.

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