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Members of Vision Church make and fill 3200 Christmas boxes with food items.
More than 100 people have turned into Santa’s helpers as this year’s Christmas Box project starts up again in Palmerston North.
The Christmas Box project is run across the country, packing up about $70 worth of pantry staples and delicious treats for less fortunate families as the festive season gets under way.
Jayden Bay, a pastor for Feilding’s Branch of Vision Church, which runs the bottom of the North Island for the project for the past four years, said the spirit of Christmas was ripe as 140 volunteers from Palmerston North put on their Santa hats this year.
Inside a Steelfort building in Milson, the volunteers gathered on Saturday to form a packing line so efficient the team was pumping out one box every 5 seconds, he said.
“That’s the heart of Christmas Box, and us at Vision Church, is we just want to help rescue someone’s Christmas or have a little gift of Aroha that will bring hope to someone’s table,” Bay said.
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From left, carton creators Tania Ashton and Trishca Oelofse tape the base of a Christmas box at the start of the packing line.
“You hear some just heartbreaking, but incredible, stories that come back.
“You even have some people who were with us yesterday who, in the first year or two, received boxes, and now they want to come and bless others, so it’s a really incredible community event.”
Each box contains food that will feed a family of up to 6 people, helping support breakfasts, lunches and dinners for one week.
Last year, almost 29,000 boxes were packed, but the teams across the nation have their sights set much higher for 2023.
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Empty cartons waiting to be turned into kai packs.
They hope to pack and distribute 45,000 boxes, with 32,000 set to stay in Aotearoa, 13,000 for Australia and 1000 for Rarotonga.
Bay said most of the 3250 boxes packed in Palmerston Nroth would stay in the region, with schools and other organisations helping to find the families who will need the pantry bolster the most.
“Even for our little area, the need is huge,” Bay said.
“Once people realise it’s a no strings attached gift, they get really receptive to it.”
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Members of Vision Church pack a trailer with Christmas Boxes.
Christmas Box’s head of community response Rebecca So’e said many families would be dreading an empty table and feelings of failure as parents as Christmas looms over the horizon.
So far, the charity had raised $900,000 through sponsors and partnerships, and were now appealing to the public for the remaining $300,000 to reach a need “greater than ever before”.
“We’ve seen hardship stats get worse across the country and one in five kids are living in food scarcity,” So’e said.
“Here at LIFE Community we’re serving around 2000 meals per week to families in need, which is a 33% increase from last year.”
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Christmas Box’s head of community response Rebecca So’e is calling on the public to help bring Christmas to the community.
Since the project started in 2001, more than 200,000 boxes had been delivered across Aotearoa, the Pacific Islands and Australia.
With 12 packing locations across the motu and more than 350 community and government organisations acting as Santa’s elves and reindeer, more than 1 million people have enjoyed kai from the Christmas Box project.
