City Mission - 1800 extra food parcels over crucial four day period

Saturday, 7 December 2024

As Christmas approaches, The Press is running a campaign to get readers donating to the Christchurch City Mission through a Reverse Advent Calendar. Each day items can be collected so at the end of the month the mission is stocked for January, one of its hardest months.

When Corinne Haines first started working at the Christchurch City Mission in 2022, they would hardly ever use their own money to buy food for those in need.

Fast forward to this year they have already spent over 50% of their food budget, five months into the financial year, with the organisation planning to massively increase its food parcel provision in the four days up to Christmas.

The Christchurch City Mission has been providing food to those in need for decades, through food parcels and more recently their self-serve foodbank.

They help 88 families a day, but there are always more that need help.

As the years have gone by, the need for help has grown, and so has the amount of food the mission needs to acquire.

Haines, the current City Missioner, said Christmas is their busiest season, but January comes in a close second.

Families spend more than they can to give their children a good Christmas, and children that were receiving school lunches throughout the year need to be fed during the school holidays.

“There’s a lot of pressure on families and parents. They want to be able to enjoy Christmas like everybody else in the community,” said Haines.

“It’s a tough month for people because they’ve run their supplies down and we’ve run our supplies down. You get that build up for Christmas, then you have to start again, and you’re starting from zero.”

In the four days leading up to Christmas, the City Mission will aim to give out 1800 food parcels on top of what they usually do.

Haines said this year they are not after “Christmas frills” like hams and pavlovas; they have already had those donated. All they need is basics.

Weetbix, jams and spreads, pasta, rice, beans, tinned vegetables and tinned fish were all on the wishlist, said Haines.

“Those good stock healthy foods that parents can easily bring together to make a meal.”

The City Mission only has a certain amount of budget for food, and despite lots of food being donated it is “never enough”.

“We are having to spend money every single month to top up on those basic items. There are always more people than we can supply food to, that’s a given.”

Haines’ message for those considering how much difference their donation will make - “nothing is too small, because the demand is ever increasing”.

In an effort to help the mission in the new year, The Press is encouraging readers to take part in its campaign to start a reverse advent calendar - the idea being to give rather than receive.

People are encouraged to grab a calendar, grab a box and pop a donation inside on every day in December, with the full boxes then going to the City Mission in time for January.

Reverse advent boxes can be taken to the mission's reception every weekday from 8.30am to 5pm. (It is not open weekends or public holidays.) Make sure to snap a photo of you and your box and send it to reporters@press.co.nz- we hope to publish a page featuring our generous readers.