Appeals on behalf of Far North families who might not have much to celebrate this Christmas have attracted an extraordinarily generous response, and that continued last week courtesy of a Northland charity and a number of Mid and Far North businesses.
The first consignment of gifts arrived at the FreshStart office in Kaitaia via Debbie Sutcliffe, Northland co-ordinator of Foster Hope, the charity that strives to provide some of life's necessities and nicer things to foster children in the region, which Rose Walker asked the police to deliver to homes where they were most needed and deserved, with the emphasis on older folk who are caring for grandchildren.
By the time the business community had dug deep to make its contribution Constable Rhys Dempster, official deliveryman for Operation for the Kids, had a four-wheel-drive load of gifts to distribute.
And as Constable Dempster disappeared over the horizon, Senior Sergeant Geoff Ryan said he was touched by the generosity of those who had provided the gifts.
"This is a real display of Christmas spirit," he said. "It's a pretty good community that does this sort of thing."
