Thank you very much for this Christmas cheer

Rotorua couple Amanda Hunter and her fiance, Mita Paul, and their two daughters want to thank everyone who donated to The Daily Post Christmas Appeal for the Salvation Army foodbank.

Their family was among at least 130 families who were given a Christmas hamper by the city's Salvation Army on Christmas Eve. The doors of the Salvation Army Church on Old Taupo Rd opened at 10.30am on Monday but people had already started lining up an hour earlier to receive a food parcel.

Some of the contents of the hamper were items that Rotorua people donated to the appeal.

"I want to say thank you very much. We appreciate everything we have been given," Miss Hunter said.

Mr Paul has just competed an engineering qualification and is looking for full-time work. He has work for three days a week and the couple live on that as well as government allowances.

When they received a letter to say they would be getting a Christmas hamper, they were pretty excited.

"We were jumping up and down, well I was," Miss Hunter said.

She is a stay-at-home mum to 4-month-old Aiirini and 18-month-old Miriama and receiving the hamper meant they were able to spend more on gifts for them.

"It's going to be a very good Christmas this year."

The hampers, which are each worth at least $150, contained items including cans of food, Christmas treats, a chicken and mince or sausages, eggs, confectionary, chips, vegetables, desserts, cream, cereal and staple items such as flour and sugar.

A Rotorua mother of two, who did not want to be named, said being given a Christmas hamper meant a lot.

She said being unemployed had made it hard for her. She said she went to the Salvation Army foodbank about six months ago for a food parcel and was surprised when she received a letter from the charity to say she would receive a hamper.

"Thank you very much to the community for supporting the rest of us. I don't think they realise just how much it means to those families who need help. It's amazing."