Prime Minister and Botany MP Christopher Luxon is teaming up with several former All Blacks to back a vital community initiative helping Kiwis in need this Christmas.
About 2500 volunteers across 15 locations nationwide are expected to pack a record 35,250 Christmas Boxes this weekend, marking 25 years of the Christmas Box charity initiative.
To help mark the anniversary, Luxon will be joined by people including former All Blacks Pita Alatini and Eroni Clark and MasterChef judge Michael Dearth to help other volunteers fill the iconic gift-wrapped boxes.
Christmas Box began in 2001 with the simple idea of providing gift-wrapped food to neighbouring families in need at Christmas.
It’s now one of the largest Christmas charity initiatives, partnering with more than 500 organisations to deliver food essentials and festive cheer to more than 30,000 Kiwi families every year.
Luxon has taken part in the Christmas Box initiative in previous years alongside his wife Amanda Luxon and Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown.
He says Christmas is a “joyous occasion for many, but it’s also a really tough time for those who are struggling”.
Christmas Box head of community response, Rebecca So’e, began volunteering to pack and deliver Christmas Boxes 13 years ago to respond to the need in her Auckland community.
“This has been a very tough year for people across the communities we work in, even tougher than last year,” she says.
“We’re serving more than 2000 meals at our community kitchens some weeks and we’re having to decrease portion sizes.
“A lot of these families are at the end of themselves, feeling like no one cares, but it just takes one small gesture to bring hope to the table and remind them they’re not alone.”
Each $40 donation fills a Christmas Box with $70 worth of food to feed a family of four to six, So’e says.
“When families are given a Christmas Box, they’re honestly in a state of shock that somebody thought of them and cares enough to send them a gift of food. There’s a lot of emotion and tears.”
In Auckland, Christmas Boxes will be packed across two locations by almost 1500 volunteers on November 28-29.
Across the rest of the country, more than 1,000 volunteers will pack boxes in Christchurch, Rotorua, Whangarei, Tauranga, Palmerston North, Kapiti, Tawa, Porirua, Lower Hutt, Hamilton, Napier, Dunedin, and Invercargill.
Community organisations and corporates taking part include VisionWest, Middlemore Foundation, New Zealand Police, Sanitarium, TradeMe, Fonterra and Watties.
So’e says she never ceases to be amazed at how generous Kiwis are at Christmas.
“I’ve experienced first-hand that given an opportunity, Kiwis will help others in need at Christmas.
“Although we might not all be able to invite someone to our table this Christmas, they might choose to donate a Christmas Box to someone this Christmas.”
One Christmas Box recipient, Cathy, says the greatest thing about receiving it was knowing someone cared.
“I wasn’t looking forward to Christmas because I knew I would be alone. One year, I received a Christmas Box, and I thought ‘wow, somebody’s thinking of me’, and showed me there is life out there.”
To gift a Christmas Box to someone in need, visit www.christmasbox.co.nz.
