Christmas was made a little brighter for some families in Auckland on Monday with food parcels and presents gifted to children with long-term health conditions.
More than $100,000 was raised by the community, charities and businesses to make it happen.
Food parcels were made up for more than 600 families. It was months in the making, but for the volunteers, every minute was worth it.
"They go through a lot, you know when you have kids with high health needs - it's a lot to juggle," Kidz First Ambulatory service manager Roni Hamilton told Newshub.
"Some are disabled, some are blind, some have hearing difficulties, some have behavioural issues," Middlemore Foundation CEO Margi Mellsop said.
"They've got enough on their plates with sick kids and the like, so if we can help make things a little easier for them, all the better for it," BBM Foodshare logistics Ant Fryer told Newshub.
And it's not just food, but presents too. The Middlemore Foundation, Kidz First and BBM teamed up to make it happen, and more than 500 businesses and charities got on board.
"We had to raise $120,000 in a week, just for the food alone," BBM founder Dave Letele told Newshub.
"There's no government funding in this. This is all community and businesses working together for the common good.
"Not only do the children get to wake up on Christmas morning and have presents, but they'll also have Christmas lunch and Christmas dinner for a couple of days."
It's clear all the mahi has helped make a difference.
"It means heaps, in these kind of times," one mother told Newshub.
"It will help us go through the Christmas period," another said.
Not only were families picking up parcels, but organisations too.
"They get really really excited, they are so happy, you know to the point where I've even seen some of them cry," social worker Matty Vahaakolo-Scott told Newshub.
Three-year-old Te Rina's whānau say it's made their Christmas brighter, after what's been a tough year.
"We stress all year with her appointments, running everywhere, changing from prams to wheelchairs to headgear," one caregiver said.
The Middlemore Foundation said it hopes to take some of that stress away.
"Our hope is that the mums and dads in particular just have a moment where they can go, amazing, this is something we don't need to worry about. We've got presents and food that will last some time," Mellsop said.
So the families get the Christmas they deserve.
