Kira Kemp loads the trailer with Christmas boxes from Te Hau Awhiowhio o Otangarei, and the Maori Evangelical Fellowship Church last year. They will give out more festive boxes from today.
Kira Kemp loads the trailer with Christmas boxes from Te Hau Awhiowhio o Otangarei, and the Maori Evangelical Fellowship Church last year. They will give out more festive boxes from today.
Christmas this year will be far better for the recipients of almost 500 Christmas boxes being given out today by Whangarei community groups.
Te Hau Awhiowhio o Otangarei and the Maori Evangelical Fellowship Church which have partnered with the Christmas Box project will packing the parcels in Otangarei today.
Theywill be the City Rugby Football Clubrooms in Otangarei from 9am. More than 60 volunteers will come together for the second year of the Christmas box project and make Christmas dinner possible for Whangarei families who think they will have to go without.
The boxes contain non-perishable food than can create a Christmas dinner for those who are struggling to provide for their family on Christmas Day.
The boxes will be delivered to allocated families all over Whangarei who reach the applicable level of need. Many of the families receiving a Christmas box this year have eight or more children and are finding it challenging to get a Christmas dinner on the table.
Janine Kaipo, from Te Hau Awhiowhio o Otangarei trust said the boxes last year have been described as "blessings in a box".
For many families, receiving a Christmas box is a wonderful surprise as they are usually unaware that they have been nominated or allocated for one. Families who received a Christmas box last year were really grateful and the boxes came as a relief for many as it gets them through Christmas, Ms Kaipo said.
