Dame Diane Robertson, City Missioner and CEO of the Auckland City Mission, stands at the end of the line. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Dame Diane Robertson, City Missioner and CEO of the Auckland City Mission, stands at the end of the line. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Charities have resorted to un-wrapping donated goods this year to ensure children don't end up with a nasty surprise on Christmas morning.
It's day nine of the Mission's annual Christmas programme and the queue of needy families continues to grow. Volunteers at Auckland's City Mission spend hours unwrapping presents andsorting them into age and gender groups for the more than 3000 families expected to pick up a food parcel over the next three weeks. The plan is that 6000 children in these families will also take home a present.
Auckland City Missioner, Dame Diane Robertson, said although it doesn't happen often, they sometimes find half-eaten food, dirty clothing, and worse in among the items sent in.
She said more than 1500 families have already taken home food parcels and presents and that their needs are greater than ever before.
Tens of thousands of people seek help from the City Mission every Christmas. Of the families given parcels so far, 459 are new to the mission, almost a third more than last year.
Sometime volunteers have to make tough decisions when handing out food parcels, and they're just keeping up with the hundreds of people lining up every day. Coordinator Fiona Flynn said the hardest thing is trying to spread out the donations across the weeks. She is short on girls' presents this year, and teenage boys' gifts are hard to find.
Solo mother Nicole Williams' 17 year-old son has cancer. Ms Williams said the mission is the main place struggling families turn to over the festive season. She said she can't find work and the power bills are getting higher, so having extra food in the cupboard makes it easier to prepare for Christmas.
The Auckland City Mission Christmas Appeal is accepting donations at 140 Hobson St until Christmas Eve.
