Kiwi Celebrities Bake Christmas Mince Pies for Charity

Kiwi Celebrities Bake Christmas Mince Pies for Charity! Trade Me Auction Opens Today

A host of New Zealand celebrities are baking Christmas mince pies for charity, with 100% of funds going to The Salvation Army Christmas Appeal. The fundraising effort is being led by The Baking Industry Association of New Zealand (bianz.co.nz). Each celebrity is baking a batch of six pies.

Christmas mince pies from the following bakers can now be bid on at trade.me/christmaspies. The auction will run from today (28 November) until Monday 5 December.

• Antonia Prebble

• Sacha McNeil

• Hilary Barry & Jack Tame

• Brodie Kane (voted best pie on Breakfast TV by Sam Wallace)

• Daniel Faitaua

• Michael Meredith

• Simon Gault

• Al Brown

• Paul Ego

• Jesse Mulligan

• Jono and Ben

• Samantha Hayes & Mike McRoberts

Kevin Gilbert, President of the Baking Industry Association of New Zealand said:

“Every Christmas, thousands of Kiwi families struggle to meet their basic needs, let alone buy gifts for their family. It can be a grim, stressful, and solitary time. Can you imagine being in a position where you have to explain to your kids that Santa won’t be coming that year? The Salvation Army does a fantastic job supporting families and individuals across the country with Christmas meals, food hampers, presents and vouchers.

“We thought the Christmas mince pie celebrity bake-off would be a fun, and exciting way to raise money and awareness for a great cause. We can’t wait to see the different twists that the celebrities put on this classic festive treat.”

"Christmas is a hard time for the families that we work with. The added costs of the celebration along with kids off on holidays and back to school needs is immense. To be able to support and relieve some of the stress that these families are carrying at Christmas is a privilege. It is only made possible with the support of events like this that help to raise the many resources required,” explained Rhondda Middleton, Community Engagement Manager at The Salvation Army.

"Each year The Salvation Army helps over 17,000 disadvantaged or socially isolated families and individuals at Christmas. This help comes in the form of social services such as budgeting advice, advocacy and counselling, as well as food hampers, presents and vouchers being provided to families who The Salvation Army works with, and who are identified as requiring particular assistance over Christmas."

Alongside the celebrity bake-off, BIANZ will be running a Christmas mince pie baking competition for consumers via Facebook, and Twitter, along with some other promotions.

For more information on The Salvation Army, including information on the work that they do, and how to offer support as an individual or business, please visit the website, salvationarmy.org.nz.

For more information on the Baking Industry Association of New Zealand, visit bianz.co.nz. The BIANZ Facebook page will also be regularly updated with information about Christmas Mince Pies for Charity: facebook.com/BakingindustryNZ.

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