Support a Family Festive Hampers Bring Hope and Joy
CMM’s Support a Family Christmas appeal matches donors to families in need to provide them with a personalised Christmas hamper that includes gifts for the children and food items to fill their pantry and provide a Christmas meal. In addition to an increasing number of corporate sponsors, the initiative is attracting interest from many individuals and groups concerned by the growing number of households impacted by a cost-of-living crisis that cannot stretch to accommodate a Christmas extravaganza.
Support a Family coordinator Glenda Marshall has been involved for the past 12 years. She says the initiative’s purpose is to bring joy to children and relief to their parents who are struggling to make ends meet.
“We know that the past few years particularly have been tough on disadvantaged families and that too many children would wake up without presents under the tree or food on the table if it were not for the incredible generosity of Support a Family donors,” says Glenda.
One of those donors is Julie Blyth who along with a group of friends has participated for the past two years. What started as a suggestion from a friend as a charitable gesture in 2022, has turned out to be a fun and rewarding experience for the group of four.
Julie says, “This is our second Christmas being involved in the Support a Family hampers appeal and we enjoyed getting everything together even more this time around. We divided the hampers up: two organise the gifts and other treats like crackers and chocolates, one does all the non-perishable food items that can be purchased a couple of weeks out and I do the fresh shop on the delivery morning.”
Beyond the feel-good factor of helping a family experience a joyous Christmas, Julie says the group enjoy having a valid excuse to catch up in the often-frantic lead-up to the festive season.
“We get together the weekend before to wrap the presents and check we have covered everything off, which is a nice reason to catch up amongst the hustle and bustle of the pre-Christmas period,” Julie says.
Staff at the Connexional Office also participated in the 2023 appeal for the first time, adopting a family including a single parent and five children aged five to 16 years old. A brief profile of each person, including their gender, age and interests helped staff select food and gifts likely to appeal. By the time the collection ‘box’ was ready for dispatch, the volume of parcels and foodstuffs was spilling out over several boxes, filling the entire boot of the vehicle used to transport the loot to the distribution depot.
The Christchurch North Methodist Parish hall in Papanui was transformed into a colourful pop-up Support a Family Distribution Centre on 21 December as CMM staff and volunteers gathered to distribute 650 hampers.
Glenda says, “Over the years, I’ve seen the need for support over the festive season grow in the community. And every year I’ve seen individuals, families, parishes and businesses opening their hearts to our appeal, and responding with incredible kindness and generosity to bring Christmas cheer to those who need it most.”
CMM extends sincere thanks to everyone who took part in the 2023 Support a Family initiative, including donors, and the many distribution day volunteers who lifted everyone’s spirits in their reindeer and elf attire.
Would-be donors for 2024 are invited to register their interest with Glenda at glendam@mmsi.org.nz
Donations of cash are also welcome and CMM staff will compile a hamper for those participants who prefer not to have the task of shopping to order.