The season for giving

'Tis the season for giving. The Christmas tree is decorated and the presents are piling up all over the place. Christmas baking is cranking up and our social calendar is pretty much full. But, sadly, not everyone will have a merry Christmas this year.

Our office Twelve Days of Christmas is in full swing. Perhaps the Christmas activity I am proudest of is one organised by a colleague, who is collecting gifts to be donated to Wellington Women's Refuge. The refuge centre organises Christmas parcels to go to the families that they work with during the year. We have been asked to think about the women and children who use this service and contribute gifts they might like. Specifically:

"So that they can ensure a fair distribution among the families, it would be great if the donated gifts included gifts for the women and for older children (often donated gifts tend to be for babies and small children). If you want to wrap your gift, please label it so that they know if it is for a boy, a girl, a Mum etc. Otherwise, unwrapped is fine, as it allows the centre to allocate it themselves."

I am thrilled to see that after only two days our little box is already overflowing and now there are extra bags and boxes in our collection area. I'm sure it will grow even more before next week's delivery date.

Women's Refuge gifts so far

I know that some supermarkets have permanent food bank collection points to collect donations during the year. My local Pak N Save has pledged to match 1-1 each donation made before 24 December, which I think is fantastic. However, I can't help wonder if the response would improve if they promoted it better and perhaps removed the empty supermarket trolleys parked up in front of it.

I implore everyone to think about what they can do to help someone in need this Christmas. Even the tiniest gesture can make a huge difference.