MEDIA RELEASE

22 January 2015

Stardome Customers Deliver Christmas joy

This Christmas, Stardome Observatory & Planetarium customers gave back in a big way with the inaugural ‘Great Christmas Giveback’.

Embracing the Christmas spirit of giving, Stardome launched ‘The Great Christmas Giveback’ in December. The new campaign gave customers the opportunity to see a Stardome show at a discounted price while also supporting two local charities, the Auckland City Mission and SPCA Auckland. Donations were collected throughout the month of December and over 300 items were donated by charitable Stardome customers. A steady stream of tinned food, presents, dried goods, warm blankets and gifts were dropped into Stardome, with some people bringing full shopping bags of food and gifts.

David Houldsworth, Stardome CEO says “We want to say a big thank you to our generous customers for taking part in the Great Christmas Giveback and spreading joy to those in need. This was our first year running this campaign and because it has been such a success we’ll be doing it again at the end of 2015.”

For many of us, Christmas is a season of good food, gifts and quality time spent with family. However, Auckland City Mission sees a very different Christmas situation. This past Christmas 3,599 people visited the Mission for assistance, over 3,000 emergency food parcels were issued to families in desperate need and 2,400 meals were served on Christmas day.

“Thousands of Auckland families turn to the Mission for help at Christmas. We provide food and presents to let them celebrate Christmas. We are only able to provide this help because of the generosity of Aucklanders who donate presents and food to the Mission. The support of Stardome this Christmas will be invaluable in helping the Mission to meet the demand for our services”, says Diane Robertson, Auckland City Missioner.

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About Stardome
Stardome and its team have been sharing a love of space from its premises in Auckland’s One Tree Hill Domain since 1967.

A place of exploration, research and sharing of knowledge the Stardome 360-degree planetarium Night Sky shows take viewers into outer space to get a closer view of stars, planets and nebulae. Stardome night planetarium shows also include telescope viewings (weather permitting). School children across Auckland enjoy daytime visits for school trips.

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