Campus pastor Roberta Watson said the Invercargill church’s annual gift packages had increased from 260 boxes last year to more than 500 this year.
The church has run its Christmas gift campaign for the past 20 years.
"We started off just doing it with people that were recommended to us."
But once the wider community discovered the initiative, they saw an opportunity to expand, Mrs Watson said.
"We were getting a lot of people out in the community that were finding out what we were doing and they’re like ‘Oh, we want to be a part of this too’."
Each year the church worked with kindergartens, schools, social services and support agencies who would refer children, young people or adults in need to ensure parcels went to those who might otherwise miss out at Christmas, she said.
Anonymous parcels, labelled only with the age and gender of the recipient, were filled with a selection of tailored gifts.
Gifts were arriving from multiple community sectors and included cash donations to allow for specific purchases, Mrs Watson said.
A Western Southland woman had rustled up community support to donate 162 bags, she said.
Often people involved would be planning and shopping throughout the year to fill a bag with something that was needed, something educational and something a child would want.
There had been a shift from white and red ribbon boxes from last year to white bags with red ribbons.
"Only because the boxes are getting more expensive and we thought we want to spend the money on the contents.
"They still look nice. We want them to look nice and special."
In previous years the parcels were delivered, but this year children are being invited to a Christmas party where they will receive their special gift.
- By Toni McDonald
