SANTA's helpers Noam Chomsky (left) and Alaska Nome check out the presents to be distributed to children in Te Kūiti and the Waitomo District. Photo: Michelle Freebairn.
A PAIR of Santa’s gnomes dropped into the King Country News office this week to arrange the pick-up for the annual toy appeal.
The toy appeal is a Te Kūiti tradition where usually between 250 and 500 gifts are brought into the office and sorted into age groups and gender. The stack under the tree appears a little smaller this year, but there is still time for some last-minute additions, which can be dropped off on Monday, December 18.
They don’t need to be expensive, just whatever people can afford. This gives local children who might otherwise have nothing to open, the chance to unwrap a gift in the spirit of Christmas.
The Christmas gifts will be distributed via local police to organisations including Violence Free Maniapoto, Women’s Refuge and others working with families in need.
This year, where budgets may be noticeably smaller for many, the annual toy appeal is something geared to helping out families for whom Christmas might not otherwise be possible.
The appeal was started in 1993 by former community stalwart Maureen Wilke and her husband, Keith. Maureen died in 2003 and the appeal was taken up by friends Jo Meads and Rosaline Walker, with the newspaper office becoming the collection point in 2010 and the King Country News now co-ordinates the appeal.
