Late rush puts presents under Dunedin tree

A late rush has helped allay fears the current economic climate might take its toll on the Kmart Wishing Tree in Dunedin, as more gifts have been placed under it this Christmas than last year.

Earlier this month, only 330 gifts had been received, but by yesterday that figure had risen to 1900.

The total exceeded the 1700 of last Christmas, store manager Jamie Coles said.

"We are obviously very pleased with the response from the Dunedin community," he said.

Earlier this month, appeal organiser Dawn Barnes commented on how the economic situation meant many families would tighten their belts this Christmas.

Now, however, her hope of receiving 1000 gifts by Christmas Eve had been far exceeded.

As they were collected, the gifts were passed on to Barnardos and the Salvation Army to distribute to families in need.

The Dunedin Salvation Army had been packaging them up with food parcels and were "blown away" with people's generosity, community ministries manager Susan McGregor said.

A Barnardos spokesman was not available for comment.