Christmas appeal: Rotorua’s generosity knows no limits - Maryana Garcia

OPINION

As the Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal kicked off this year, I thought reaching the previous year’s tally of $76,500 was going to be a big ask. I did not expect to be able to surpass it.

As this year’s appeal co-ordinator for the newspaper, I heard firsthand about the mounting difficulties people were facing.

Between January and November, the Salvation Army foodbank provided 3346 kai parcels to individuals and families in the community, four times what was provided in the same period in 2022.

Salvation Army Rotorua corps officer Hana Seddon told me her team was seeing more people with fulltime jobs and mortgages struggling to afford meals.

Meanwhile, food prices have climbed steadily since March 2021 as New Zealanders continue to grapple with a cost-of-living crisis. The latest data from Stats NZ, released on December 13, showed food prices were 6 per cent higher than they were a year ago.

Everyone has been feeling the pinch in the lead-up to Christmas. With less extra stock in our cupboards, pantries and bank accounts, I expected our annual six-week appeal would receive fewer donations.

From Mamaku and Ngongotahā Volunteer Fire Brigades’ donation drives to the epic Fill the Bus day, from Scope’s coffee-for-a-can day to Zorb’s special locals’ event, I started each day with what I thought were realistic expectations.

There would be donations. I just thought there would be less to collect than last year.

It turns out my expectations were more pessimistic than realistic.

I have never been so happy to be proven wrong, again and again and again.

The reality was that at each of these events the value of donations trumped last year’s collection numbers.

Within six weeks and 26 Rotorua Daily Post articles the people of Rotorua have proven one thing: When the going gets tough, the tough keep giving.

Day by day, as the appeal continued, I saw people give even if it cost them.

I watched as whole families came running out of their homes in their pyjamas with canned goods from the pantry in their hands. Businesses were determined to donate non-perishable treats and toys to make Christmas more fun for whānau.

Mokoia Intermediate School student Xavier Reuben, 12, donated 120 cans himself.

And those are just the donations I saw first-hand. There are many more generous souls out in the community who went above and beyond in supporting this year’s Christmas appeal but have gone unnoticed.

I want to use this opportunity to thank them.

Glenholme Primary School at Fill the Bus 2023. Photo / Michaela Pointon

Each person who has turned up to a Christmas Appeal event with one item or a boxful of cans, each person who paused on their way out the door to grab something from their kitchen or added an extra item to their shopping trolley at the supermarket has made a big difference.

The value of donations collected has surpassed last year’s tally by more than $5000. That would not have been possible without each individual’s effort and generosity.

But it’s not over yet.

We still have two days and the Waikite Hotpools Soak for the Salvation Army event to go.

I doubt we are going to reach the $85,000 mark. I challenge Rotorua to prove me wrong - again.

There’s plenty of time for my expectations to get blown out of the water.