Canterbury Christmas charity ensures gifts for hundreds of children

A Canterbury charity is bringing Christmas magic to hundreds of children. Photo / Supplied

A charity is ensuring every child’s Christmas wish list is fulfilled by matching generous donors with children who would otherwise go without.

The Elf in the Village campaign grants donors the chance to pick the age and gender of a child they wish to buy presents for.

Run by Christchurch-based charity It Takes A Village, its matchmaking aspect ingrains values about giving back and team building, says director Dani Petterd.

“If you want to get your kids involved, then you can be able to pick kids that are similar ages to your kids to teach them about giving,” Petterd said.

“One of our teams, they make it a team building exercise, they go out to the mall and go and purchase all the kids’ stuff and then go and get a photo with Santa.

“It’s started to ingrain team building and teaching your kids about gifting and that everybody’s not got the same as you.”

Those not wanting to be paired can also become “Sprinkle Elves” to help fill present gaps, or team up with friends or work colleagues to buy presents as a group.

Elf in the Village pairs volunteers with a child or family to buy Christmas presents for. Photo / Supplied

While It Takes A Village provides baby and toddler bundles to families year-round, it’s the third year it has run Elf in the Village.

“It all started three years ago when we were approached by a couple of people asking if they could help at Christmas,” Petterd said.

“In the first year, we were able to help 100 children; this year, we have had over 300 elves help over 600 children with Christmas.”

But there is still a call for more elves to get involved this year, with many families still on a waitlist.

“We are literally getting between five to 10 phone calls, emails, texts every day asking for help because there’s just so many families out there.

“At the moment, we’re putting them on a wait list because we just don’t want to give somebody hope that we can give them something without being able to follow through.

“And that’s a really big thing - is we don’t want to overcommit to these families and not be able to deliver them the Christmas magic and then let them down.

“We would love any more elves so that we can help more families.”

Petterd said there are many reasons a child or family needs extra support during the holiday season.

“It can go from our low-income families who are working two jobs to some people that have just had absolutely horrible years,” Petterd said.

“There’s a lot of need. We see a lot of low-income families, families that are struggling just to survive every single day.

“Christmas just adds that extra pressure. A lot tend to either go into debt or just not do Christmas at all because they are unable to afford it.”

“The magic of Christmas is something that the kids see around them but sadly wouldn’t be able to have if [Elf in the Village] didn’t happen.”

It Takes A Village director Dani Petterd said there are many reasons why a child or their family needs support. Photo / Supplied

Petterd highlighted that all presents are donated unwrapped, recognising the special experience parents get when gifting the presents to their children.

“A big thing for us is making sure that the parents have that dignity and that care around them to make sure that they can still be involved in the Christmas magic,” she said.

“And also knowing what your kids are getting is a big thing as well.

“You are able to know it before, and feel excited about those things that are coming, and getting ready for Santa and all that kind of stuff.”