Santa Carrus Christmas Party bringing festive joy to Tauranga families in need

Pato Alvarez from Pato Entertainment and Tommy Wilson from Te Tuinga Whanau, as One Love and Kapai keep it kind for homeless kids.

Happiness and festive spirit was radiating at an event all about bringing Christmas joy to families in need.

The annual Santa Carrus Christmas Party was held today at The Historic Village.

The event is run by Te Tuinga Whānau support services. This is the Christmas party's seventh year.

Executive director Tommy Wilson said the support service looked after 200 homeless families in Tauranga, a number which had doubled since last year with Covid-19.

"I think people forget that there are many people where Christmas isn't an option as far as presents and Christmas kai.

"This gives them an opportunity to feel special and normalise Christmas."

It was a whakamā (embarrassment)-free day for these families that struggled, he said.

He said 100 presents were gifted to the children of families in need.

One Love festival director Pato Alvarez had picked the presents, bought them and wrapped them with his team, along with bringing them to the Christmas party to hand out.

The event had other fun activities and action going on, including free haircuts, free face painting, a movie theatre, continuous kai, free drinks from Good Buzz, a bouncy castle, making personalised Christmas cards and dress-up Santa Claus.

"Today is a day where they can just be happy, and if there is one thing we've learned this year, it's that kindness can go a long way. It's an amazing currency.

"It's been an outstanding success and as staff members, we get to celebrate their happiness, and that is a cool feeling.

"We get to change lives."