I moved to Lower Hutt in 2018 and made a concerted effort to support local businesses and community groups. I found it hard to find out information and there seemed to be some overlap between different groups. Last year in this space I donated Christmas presents for children to Pay It Forward Lower Hutt's Secret Santa (this project), Kokiri Marae Pātaka Kai, the Koha Shed Wainuiomata and Shoebox Christmas (Koha Tree). Many of these groups weren't aware of other similar calls for presents in Wainuiomata alone. I do not want any child to miss out on celebrating and I felt I should Pay Forward some of my Christmas consumerism. 

I embraced Christmas in 2022 when we hosted Christmas at our house for the first time. Our families are in the South Island and we usually travel to them for Christmas. For the first time as an adult I was able to decorate my house, make crafts and plan the exact Christmas food that I wanted. It was magical! In 2023, I stepped up Craftsmas and one side of the family swapped home made gifts (pottery, painted planters, a wooden trug, homemade preserves, cookies and vanilla extract). 

I am in the Nui Book Group with Amy Doughty who had been running this project solely in closed Facebook groups. I couldn't comprehend the amount of time she spent messaging santas, caregivers and organising logistics. I know that I was messaging her at least 20 or 30 times with questions and organising present drop off. It is amazing that she organised the facilitation of hundreds of gifts every year using Facebook Messenger. I suggested adding a website with FAQ and links to sign up online. On October 2nd 2024, we agreed to do this and I had 9 days before we launched on Facebook to set the forms and website up. 

I thought about why I want to be a santa and what projects I support but I don't because there are barriers (time, effort, lack of information). I know there are people in my community willing and able to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on celebrating Christmas. How could we connect with them? I realised that manaakitanga, joy and community connection are why I love being a santa. But what would get other people as interested as me? I didn't want this to be a self-congratulatory one way charity project. I knew that there are many benefits to being a santa and for children to be matched with personalised presents. I thought about why people love Christmas and especially Christmas shopping. I remembered the Christmases I have had celebrating with children in my family and how the children's joy and delight is unmatched. I thought about people I know who experienced deprivation as children and want to give others the joy that they missed out. I talked to a santa who is raising children in privileged circumstances and wants her children to experience the joy of giving and sharing. I saw on social media calls for friends and discussions of loneliness. I thought that a Santa Social Club could be an organic way to meet people and share ideas without the pressure of making friends at a meet up. At its heart, this project is about creating joy by connecting our community. 

There is food insecurity here - I could have devoted my efforts to getting beans and rice for everyone. I think that everyone deserves more than the basics - we all deserve joy, magic and human connection. Christmas in the secular tradition is what we make it - it's the rituals of decorating, getting together and having special food. Could adding another person or child to people's shopping list be part of the Christmas magic? I thought this project has two parts:

1) Santas' joy in spreading Christmas magic and shopping

2) Children and their families joy in knowing they are cared about and worthy of personalised gifts.

When I met with Kelli from Kokiri Marae Pātaka Kai on October 4th 2024, she asked me how many children can we help and how many do we have to turn away? We don't yet know the true demand for santas. We do know that some of our santas who have supported us in previous years are facing job cuts and precarity. We do not want anyone to give more than they can comfortably afford. I had to find a way to try my absolute best that every child nominated that lives in Lower Hutt and is under 13 years old gets a present. I realised that we need to connect with existing community groups and get help on a larger scale. I wondered if local businesses might have leftover stock or be willing to talk to me about this project. The response has been astounding and heartwarming. I then wondered how we could support these small businesses the way they support us and created the Shop for Good third prong.

3) Small businesses supporting us and us supporting small businesses. Our community needs to know the scope of the generosity shown to us. As a shopper, it is meaningful to me that businesses share my values and community spirit.

If we can shop local and support small businesses with money we were already going to spend we can improve the Christmas shopping experience (more personalised, more unique offerings and creating community ties).  The retail and hospitality sectors are facing leaner demand. If we can get a network of santas to support small businesses; the businesses can support us more. This circular economy means that more children can receive more personalised presents infused with aroha because our santas and small businesses participated with joy.

I didn't set out to network with businesses but in order to help more children, I had to go out of my comfort zone and "hustle." I talked to small businesses I was already interacting with and told them about the project. The idea for raffles and fundraising with selling copies Enough developed organically. Amy and I originally did not want to do fundraising because this is a small scale project about facilitating personalised presents to children. All funds raised will go toward buying children presents and hampers to distribute this Christmas via Kokiri Marae Pātaka Kai . 

At a minimum, I think that we might be able to give every child a book, a sweet treat and a card handmade by me (or other crafters). I want people to share their Christmas traditions (like my Craftsmas) with others in their community. I think the possibilities created by community connection and sharing joy are immense. 

Rita

Contact rita@huttcommunity.co.nz to get involved!