Christmas Day Hampers for 100 Greater Wellington families

Special Christmas Day Hampers to bring joy to 100 Greater Wellington families

This year the Wellington City Mission continues its Christmas Eve tradition of delivering a special ‘Christmas Day Hamper’ to 100 families who are most in need.

At 8:30am on Wednesday 24 December Mission staff, accompanied by Christmas Star Appeal Champions Jeff Toomaga-Allen (Hurricanes), Ili Tugaga (Firebirds) and Stu Smith (The Breeze), will prepare to set out with the hampers, which are filled with everything a family needs for a memorable Christmas Day at home.

Several businesses have generously donated the makings of a delicious and nutritious meal, including an assortment of quality desserts from Ruth Pretty Catering, and a range of meats from Mad Butcher, Hellers and Coq Au Vin Poultry.

Also included in the hampers are new toys for each family’s children - a result of the overwhelming support thoughtful Wellingtonians have shown for The Mission’s Christmas appeal. Most gifts were donated to their annual initiatives ‘Pack the Bus’, and ‘Workplace Christmas Star’. Many have also been collected independently by individuals, families, businesses and organisations. As an extra surprise, 100 full sets of the popular ‘Blokhedz’ were kindly donated by Z Energy specially for the hampers.

The families who will be receiving a special Christmas Day Hamper have worked closely with The Mission throughout the year, and are making great progress and positive changes - predominantly through The Mission’s ‘Families’ and ‘Independence’ programmes. The hampers are vital for the families who receive them, as the pressure placed on them to conform to the expectations of Christmas is immense, and can actually be the very thing that sets them back - at worst causing complete family breakdown.

The Christmas Day Hampers are one part of the assistance that The Mission provides for those in need throughout Greater Wellington. Over 850 Christmas food parcels, 300 regular food parcels and 7,200 toys, books and gifts have been distributed in the lead-up to Christmas to Mission clients and those of 38 other agencies and services.

This year the response to The Mission’s Christmas collection has been better than ever. Staff have been impressed with the quality and suitability of donations - with educational books, outdoor sports gear and art equipment being high on the wish list. Similarly, the food donated has been particularly useful, including tinned goods, and Christmas treats.

The Mission would like to sincerely thank the Greater Wellington community for their enduring support at Christmas time and throughout the year - it is only through the support of the caring public that The Mission can continue offering their vital social services through their five key programmes.

ENDS

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