Mrs van der Gulik said donating to the appeal sent an important message to the children about helping others in need.
"I think it's valuable for our children to try and learn or understand that the world is made up of many walks of life and that not all children and families have a safe place to live, or food to eat every day. It's a tricky thing to teach children, particularly pre-schoolers, but we do our best."
Rotorua HomeBased Childcare collected 26 items of food.
"Every little bit helps, so I challenge early childhood education services or anyone who is in a position to do so to do something similar. There are many struggling families out there who will really appreciate a small helping hand this Christmas. With rising costs in housing, electricity, petrol etc, it's often a struggle to put food on the table and it's the children who miss out."