14 December 2008
On the second day of Christmas
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Age Concern's Grant Withers will use the $10,000 donated by Auckland Airport's travellers to buy Santa Saks for some of
Auckland's older citizens.
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On the second day of Christmas, Auckland Airport's travellers donated to me...$10,000 for Age Concern Auckland!
Christmas can be a very lonely time for those with no friends and family around. Every year Age Concern Auckland runs a
Santa Saks programme, spreading a little bit of Christmas spirit to some of our older citizens.
"Chief executive officer of Auckland Airport, Simon Moutter, said "Every day at the airport we see the joy provided by
families being reunited. Age Concern fulfils this role for folk who would otherwise be lonely over the holiday period."
"For some people, their only visitor in the course of the year is the volunteer from Age Concern Auckland who comes
bearing a Christmas gift," said Grant Withers from Age Concern Auckland.
"Every year we provide gifts for these people to ensure they get to join in the Christmas festivities. With this
generous offer of funds we can extend the purchasing of gifts to provide gifts for many hundreds more people.
"For the staff and volunteers who distribute the saks it is a very joyous time. Seeing the responses from people, who
for many it is the only gift they receive all year, can be both joyous and humbling." Grant says, "The contents of the
Santa Sak parcels are donated from sponsors like Auckland Airport. Without the support and generosity of these
donations, the Santa Sak run would not be possible. We would like to give an enormous thank you to everyone who has
helped make this donation possible."
Age Concern is a national charity which works together to promote quality of life for older people. The Auckland branch
was established in 1949 in response to older people living in substandard housing in the inner Auckland city. The
charity offers services to older people in Auckland and Waitakere cities, including information and advice, health
promotion courses, a minibus, visiting service, home maintenance, elder abuse and neglect prevention and financial
management.
Auckland Airport kicked off its 12 days of Christmas charity donation promotion yesterday and will distribute $120,000
to New Zealand charities by Christmas Eve.
The donations were made possible by the generosity of Auckland Airport's travellers who donate their foreign currency or
loose change in donation globes positioned throughout the airport.
Donations made so far...
* On the first day of Christmas - Auckland SPCA
* On the second day of Christmas - Age Concern Auckland
ENDS