Through the generous giving from our online donors and the staff at Spark, Xero, Dow, Hays Recruitment, Chubb Insurance, Rockwell Automation,  Richmond Chambers, Cambridge Clothing,  All things Plumbing, IMCD NZ Ltd, Kohler NZ, Russell Investments, Lion NZ Customer services team, Britomart Group, Cooper and Company, Lynch and Associates, Chorus, Dell Technologies, Reach Local NZ Ltd, Argosy Property Ltd, Kmart, TAS Health and the BNZ, we were able to support thirteen community services in the Waikato/Auckland region with the 2021 Christmas appeal.

The project would not have gone ahead without a drop off, pick up and volunteering centre, organised by Rockwell Automation in Mt Wellington. We would like to thank their team very much for their support, volunteers and the venue for the project. 

We delivered 1138 boxes of presents and essentials to families involved with English Language Partners (Waikato), Island Child Charitable Trust, North Shore Police, Woven Earth, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, HBC Grandparents Parenting Grandchildren, Love Soup, The Mums Clique, Budgeting and Family Support Services (Manukau, Otara, Tuakau), North Shore Women's Centre, De Paul House (Northcote and Rodney), Shine Women's Refuge and Rodney Hestia Women's Refuge.

"Thank you to the Catalytic team for making Christmas special for some of our most vulnerable families, who had been living with domestic violence. For many of our impacted families, Christmas was looking bleak with financial and emotional pressures adding further stress on top of their situation. We were overwhelmed by the love received from individuals and businesses who donated Christmas gifts to our clients and their children, as well as food - including special Christmas treats, which helped ensure they could have as much of joyful Christmas as possible". Carol Herbert, Relationship Specialist, Shine

“My daughter loves her new box….it really is the little things. I am more grateful than I can explain. Thank you”

Thanks to the generosity of our community, we were able to make Christmas special for children in our KIDshine programme. This meant our clients who were not in a position to purchase presents, were able to bring joy and hope to their children. Each gift included a card that read ‘This is a little gift from us to celebrate everything you have achieved this year’.

One mum said, “You’re right, it’s crazy how much we've done, we couldn’t have done it without you”.

Photos: Chubb Insurance volunteer filling boxes that were donated by Spark, Dow Chemicals team donated many generous gifts, delivering parcels to De Paul House in Northcote and below a delivery to North Shore Womens Centre

Through the generous giving from our online individual donors and the staff at Forsyth Barr, Mercy Hospital, Marsh Insurance, MTF Finance, Polson Higgs, Southern DHB, Kom Limited, Swain Woodham Group, Otago Polytechnic, Hays Recruitment, PKF Dunedin Ltd and Oamaru Playcentre, we were able to support five community charities in the Otago region with the 2021 Christmas appeal.

The project would not have gone ahead without a drop off, pick up and volunteering centre at the Dunedin Community House and we thank them for their help, volunteers and use of their venue for the project. 

We delivered 302 boxes of presents and essentials (double that of last year) to families involved with Corstorphine Community Hub, the Cancer Society (families in Dunedin and Invercargill), Stopping Violence Dunedin, Te Whare Pounamu Womens Refuge and Oamaru Pacific Island Community Group Inc.

"I had amazing feedback from a family that I gave boxes too. The young girl aged 11 thought that the box had been designed especially for her as it contained everything she is into and loves to do at the moment. The young boy who was 12 years old was super impressed as well which says a lot coming from a young boy!
Keep doing what you are doing as you did it so well and touched the lives of young people and their parents in a very special way at such a difficult time in their lives".
Ngā mihi, Jo Bremer, Supportive Care Invercargill, The Cancer Society of New Zealand 

"Thankyou again for the amazing work you do 😊"
Kind regards, Hana Hana Halalele, General Manager
Oamaru Pacific Island Community Group Inc

Thank you to everyone involved who volunteered and donated to make this possible.  

Photos: Volunteers at work at Forsyth Barr and Corstorphine Community Hub picking up boxes for their families

Through the generous giving from the teams at Cavell Leitch Lawyers, Pinnacle and Co, Grant Thornton, Hays Recruitment, Deloitte, Dell Technology, Spark, Chubb Insurance, Georgina Hemmings at Socially Speaking, Aman and daughter Myana and Belinda Foster, along with our individual online donors we were able to support four community charities in Christchurch, with the 2021 Christmas appeal.

The project would not have gone ahead without a drop off, pick up and volunteering centre. We would also like to thank the Christchurch Community House for their help, support and use of their venue for the project. 

We delivered 251 boxes of presents and essentials to single parent families through Birthright Canterbury, the womens refuge AVIVA, Grandparents raising Grandchildren and Bellyful (supporting families with newborns).

Thank you to everyone involved who volunteered and donated to make this possible. 

"The generous Shoe Box donations from various local companies and individuals meant that one parent families were less stressed thinking about Christmas. But more than the children getting presents on Christmas, the Shoe Box Project has ripple effects such as:

• Having some help with Christmas presents meant there was more food on the table for Christmas Day.
• For others, it was the chance to join in with a whānau barbeque and connect with relatives. When money is tight, one parent families do not attend because they are unable to bring some kai to share or simply no money for fuel/bus transport.
• Our families feel that they are not missing out compared to the two parent families.

We deeply appreciate the hard work and dedication of the staff, sponsors and donors of the Shoe Box Project".

Kind Regards, Rhodora Sagles, Manager - Birthright Canterbury Trust

 

"We love participating in this each year".

Greer Grenfell, Cavell Leitch Experience Coordinator, Christchurch

 

 

 

 

Through the generous giving from the teams at Spark, Deloitte, NZ Infrastructure Commission, Hays Recruitment, Xero, Dell and TAS Health, Chorus, along with our individual online donors we were able to support five community charities in the Wellington region with the 2021 Christmas appeal.

The project would not have gone ahead without a drop off, pick up and volunteering centre. We would also like to thank Wellington Helicopters and East by West Ferries for their help, support and use of their venues for the project. 

We delivered 245 boxes of presents and essentials to English Language partners (Porirua and Wellington branches), Bellyful, Heart Kids, Wellington Homeless Women's Trust and 

Kids Need Dadz. Thank you to everyone involved who volunteered and donated to make this possible.  

I would like to let you know that we have delivered  25 Catalytic Foundation  gift boxes to children. They were so happy and pleasantly surprised and their parents too. It was lots of happy faces and smiles.

My colleagues Sarka and Fleur who are our coordinators and I had a great fun as ‘Santines’. Thank you very much.

Zlata  Sosa | Manager
English Language Partners | Wellington Centre

On behalf of the recipients of the Christmas boxes, we would like to thank our donors and supporters in the Wellington region for supporting your community in need. 

Photos: 1 - Volunteers from Deloitte, 2 - Volunteers from Hays Recruitment, 3 - Wonderful family surprise, 4- Our parcels went out with wonderful home cooked meals from Bellyful 

Through the generous giving from the Massey Uni team, Chubb Insurance and The Factory, combined with individual online donors we were able to support two major charities in the Manawatu / Whanganui Region.

We delivered 72 boxes to the Palmerston North Womens Refuge who sent us the following thank you notes for everyone involved: 

Thank you so much for the support in regards to the shoebox donations we have received over the past few weeks. They were absolutely amazing.  This has made a number of our families Christmases so much better than it would have been 😊

The boys have come home absolutely chuffed. Thank you so much for the gifts the children received today.  They are 2 very lucky boys. Merry Christmas and happy new year.

Aw thanks you so much for the gifts. I have really appreciated everything you have done for me and my whanau ! Deeply !

Thank you so much for the donations I know this might sound silly but the Shampoo and Conditioner is amazing. As a family of 8 this is liquid gold.

We sent $400 worth of gift vouchers to the Wai Ora Christian Community Trust, who work with many at risk and homeless individuals and families. The CEO of the Trust Marama Dey sent us the following note:

Please thank you team very much for the vouchers that will come in handy for the families very much in need at this time of the year..

Karen and I have been busy wrapping Christmas presents going out tomorrow to about 30 families, and their children.
Two of our families have up to ten kids.
One whanau is homeless so we desperately seeking help for them and if the worst comes to the worst we will have to put them into our marae wharenui. They have six kids.

Any way you all have a merry Christmas and a better new year next year.

God Bless you all

Marama Dey
Wai Ora Christian Community Trust

We would like to thank our donors and supporters in the Manawatu/Whanganui region for supporting the Christmas Shoebox Appeal and your community in need. 

Our office is now open for the New Year and it was lovely to receive this email this morning from one of our long standing supporters..... 

"I am pleased to let you know that we are able to continue supporting Catalytic Foundation this year. It is pleasing to see the worthwhile projects that you have been able to support, especially in these difficult times". 

In 2022, we look forward to working with our donors and volunteers, on campaigns and helping community charities provide a hand up to those in need. 

From Teresa Moore (CEO), Heather (Accounts), Denise Pimentel (Digital Communications), Gaby Gandionco (Administration), Karen Titulaer (Partnerships) and our Board of Trustees: John Gallaher, Deborah Lucas, Georgia Robertson and David Knightly

Together we have delivered 2,332 Christmas boxes from Invercargill to Kaitaia and engaged hundreds of volunteers.

Every contribution made a difference to struggling families throughout Aotearoa. Thank you to everybody who gave their time, gifts and donations to this amazing campaign.

We would like to thank the frontline staff also in the many community charities we worked with during the 2021 Christmas Shoebox Project.

Northland (296 Christmas Boxes)

• Te Rarawa Family Services
• Whare Timatatanga Hou Ora (Kaitaia Womens Refuge)

Auckland (1115 Christmas Boxes)

• Island Child Charitable Trust NZ
• Budgeting and Family Support Services (Mangere, Otara, Tuakau)
• Woven Earth
• Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
• Hibiscus Coast Grandparents Parenting Grandchildren
• Love Soup
• The Mums Clique
• North Shore Womens Centre
• Kindred Services (Helensville)
• Womens Refuge (Rodney)
• De Paul House
• Shine
• North Shore Police

Tauranga (20 Christmas Boxes plus sports gear)

• Te Aranui Youth Trust

Waikato (23 Christmas Boxes + Teddy Bears)

• Waikato Refugee Forum
• English Language Partners

Whanganui/Manawatu (80 Christmas Boxes)

• Wai Ora Christian Community Trust
• Palmerston North Womens Refuge

Wellington (245 Christmas Boxes)

• English Language Partners (Porirua and Wellington)
• Bellyful (Wellington to Porirua)
• Heart Kids Wellington
• Kidz Need Dadz
• Wellington Homeless Women's Trust

Christchurch (251 Christmas Boxes)

• Birthright Canterbury
• Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
• Aviva
• Bellyful
• Christchurch Community House

Otago / Southland (302 Christmas Boxes)

• Volunteer South
• Dunedin Community House
• Corstorphine Community Hub
• Te Whare Pounamu Dunedin Womens Refuge
• Stopping violence Dunedin
• Cancer Society (Dunedin and Invercargill)
• Pacific Island Community (Oamaru)

On behalf of the families who received boxes of presents thank you for your generosity and caring for others.

He aha te mea nui o te ao
What is the most important thing in the world?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata
It is the people, it is the people, it is the people
Maori proverb

A small act of kindness can make a families Christmas

To DONATE a box of gifts for a child this Christmas please CLICK HERE

Each Christmas box contains special gifts including: something to love, something for school, something to wear, something to play with and something to wash with. 

Thank you to Xabilities for producing this video for the Catalytic Foundation Christmas Shoebox Appeal

The Catalytic Foundation acknowledge and appreciate the inspirational work done by Te Whare Pounamu Dunedin Women's Refuge and their volunteers. We are proud to be supporting this organisation with Christmas boxes this year and to with our community grant funding.

Women's Refuge is New Zealand’s largest organisation that supports and helps women and children experiencing family violence. The organisation strives to ensure all women and children in Aotearoa can live free from domestic and family violence.

Te Whare Pounamu Dunedin Women's Refuge in particular are more than just a safe house - they are a pillar of strength to vulnerable families in the Dunedin community. The regional branch provides various solutions under one roof such as:

• Confidential support through a 24 hour crisis line
• Home and community visits including in isolated regions
• 24/7 access to safe houses
• Advocacy when dealing with police, legal, court, WINZ, housing, doctors, immigration, school’s and Oranga Tamariki
• Referrals to counsellors, doctors, lawyers and other support services
• Education and support groups for women and children, as well as providing information and presentations to community groups, schools and workplaces 

We at the Catalytic Foundation are glad to know that our grant was used to help the charity obtain essentials like furniture for their safe houses. For women and children with nowhere else to go, the safe house is the closest they have to a home so it's important that it provides some comforts of home, especially during what's sure to be one of the most challenging periods of their lives. 

The recent findings from our Covid-19 Community Needs research has found that community charities need our help now more than ever. Please consider a donation or setting up workplace giving so we can get support to where it's needed most. 

This year the Hays Recruitment team have volunteered to be Christmas Elves, to help deserving families receive boxes of gifts at Christmas time. The Christmas Shoebox Appeal has been an ideal opportunity for the Hays Team to get with their communities. Over the next few weeks the Hays team in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland are gift wrapping gifts and delivering Christmas boxes to ensure as many families are reached as possible. This is all made possible with donations from businesses and individuals throughout Aotearoa.

If you would like to contribute to the appeal  please click on this link Christmas Shoebox Appeal.

Thank you to the Hays Recruitment team for your time and generosity.