Christmas Shop

Many of us in New Zealand have had the privilege of growing up with Christmas being an exciting and joyful time. However, for many families in need, Christmas is a time of stress and disillusionment. For those families that already are dependent on food parcels, there is often a feeling of disempowerment and significant pressure on parents to "put on a good Christmas".

This can lead to depression, family violence or feelings of alienation. We at the Good Works Trust want to help provide a better Christmas for as many families as we can, and need your help to enable us to do so.

For the past 6 years, the Good Works Trust, and a dedicated team of volunteers, have arranged a Christmas Shop which allows over 100 disadvantaged families on the North Shore to access food and gifts at an affordable rate for their Christmas meal and day.

We are extending an invitation to locals and businesses who might also want to partner with us to make Christmas a positive time for those in need in their community by way of financial or product donation.

Based on our statistics from 2016, the cost to feed a family, and provide children with Christmas presents, is estimated at $100.

The challenge is to fund enough to offset the costs of the items so that we can reach at least 100 of the poorest & most disadvantaged families in our city. We know that there are so many more families that need assistance at this time of the year, and we would love to grow this so we can meet the clear demand.

This year the Christmas Shop is on the 19th of December, and we have partnerships in place with a local Community Centre, who will provide the venue, and PAK'nSAVE, Mad Butcher and Simply Fresh, who will provide grocery items at a discounted rate. However, there are still significant costs that need to be subsidised on these items so we can pass them onto families.