The reception at the Northern Advocate's office has resembled a toy shop the last few weeks.
Teddy bears, games, toys and food have been kindly brought in by the public for our annual Christmas appeal.
This year all donations go to Barnardos, an organisation that help struggling families with a number of issues. Many of the families they help can't afford the luxuries Christmas brings.
Whangarei Barnardos service manager Shirley Drake said she was ecstatic about how generous people had been.
"We've done three pick ups and each time we've been blown away by the amount of donations. The first time I came by myself and had to call someone else to help me."