The Christmas Joy store, New Zealand’s first social toy pop-up, shifts to a larger venue as demand for support continues to soar.
Run by the Kindness Collective for a fifth year, the store exists to ensure whānau have both presents and kai for Christmas, and organisers say the past 12 months have brought unprecedented need.
Sarah Page, CEO and creator of Kindness Collective, says the need is only getting worse.
“Over the last 18 months, our services, our food bank especially, has seen an increase in 336% in requests for support,” says Page.
“The cost-of-living crisis is more than just a term; it’s actually affecting real people, and what we’re seeing now is families who were doing okay two years ago are now really struggling.”
Since 1 April, the organisation provided more than 33,800 people with food and says that 20,000 children and 3,000 whānau are now in line to benefit from the expanded Christmas Joy Store.
Whānau Māori made up 52% of those requiring support by the organisation.
Shamubeel Eaqub, Chief Economist from Simplicity, says the pressure points of cost-of-living crisis is on the price of everyday necessities.
“When you think about things like food, electricity, insurance, those are the kinds of costs that are increasing really fast at the moment” says Eaqub.
“So, while on average for some things prices are falling or not increasing very much, the things that we can’t do without are increasing a lot”.
Despite the circumstances, the store is still committed to bringing ‘joy and magic, with the dignity everyone deserves’ to whānau struggling these holidays.
The organisation has included a Christmas-focused pop-up social supermarket this year to run alongside its toy area, which has received a massive donation of kai from Foodstuffs North Island.
Platnym Walker-Kara, 19, is one of ‘Santa’s Helpers’ from Mā te Huruhuru, says she loves being able to see whānau smile when they enter.
“Coming from the background that we see and the whānau that I do come from myself, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” says Walker-Kara.
“It’s not something that’s seen every day, that’s not offered to people like us.”
The Kindness Collective says they hope to not be around in years to come and that more resources can be put into alleviating child poverty. Mōrehu Kara, Mā Te Huruhuru’s Pou Tikanga, says there are still ways that others can help.
“Ko te mea nui ki te tuku atu te aroha, ahakoa te aha. Kia tuku atu te aroha, hei hāpai ake i a rātou i ngā whānau rawa kore ana, ngā whānau pōhara ana, rātou katoa. Ko te mea nui kia kaha ki te torotoro atu ō ringaringa ki a rātou e hiahia ana ki te awhi me te manaaki.”
