ME Family Services gets Christmas grant from Auckland Airport to help south Auckland families

Carole Tana-Tepania, Chief Executive Mangere East Family Services, couldn't believe the news when she heard about the Twelve Days of Christmas grant from Auckland Airport. Photo / Greg Bowker

The Herald is profiling 12 charities awarded $10,000 each from Auckland Airport’s Twelve Days of Christmas community giving tradition. Each grant is thanks to generous travellers who placed unwanted currency into money boxes dotted around the terminals in 2024.

While Christmas and school holidays can be a time of freedom and fun, the season often goes hand in hand with extra costs, particularly when it comes to food.

“Kids tend to eat more when they’re home all day, and there can be extra mouths to feed when friends and whānau visit,” says Carole Tana-Tepania, the chief executive at Māngere-based ME Family Services.

“Cost-of-living pressures are tough on everyone, and food is one of the areas that can add extra stress to families at this time of year, particularly for those in hardship.”

ME Family Services sees the pressure on families first-hand through its early childhood centre and school and community-based social work services in Māngere and Ōtāhuhu.

An extra way it helps give those families a boost over the holiday season is by way of a Christmas food box filled with enough pantry staples and treats for at least three meals.

The charity is planning to use the $10,000 to continue helping families with Christmas Boxes and other gift items. Photo / Greg Bowker

“It offers some immediate relief through the holiday period where the kids are home and frees up money so they can buy other things they might need for Christmas,” Tana-Tepania says.

But this year, with reduced funding for its community-based support services, it was unsure if would be able to give away the LIFE Community Christmas Boxes it has distributed for 10 years.

That’s when the Auckland Airport stepped in with a $10,000 donation from its Twelve Days of Christmas community giving programme. This sees the airport distribute money collected from its globe moneyboxes dotted around the airport, where travellers place spare foreign currency when they are passing through.

“We were racking our brains about how to cover the costs of the boxes this year, so we were thrilled with the airport’s support to bring joy and relief to many whānau in our community,” Tana-Tepania says.

“Each year, we witness the profound impact of these boxes, which not only provide essential items but also foster a sense of connection, care, and hope among families during the holiday season. They are often delivered when school is finished, and the children’s faces just light up when they see the box and open it. That’s when you know it’s really needed.”

Auckland Airport Chief Corporate Services Officer Melanie Dooney says the airport is glad the donation will make a significant contribution to the Christmas Box campaign and strengthen ME Family Services’ community outreach.

Carole Tana-Tepania, Chief Executive Mangere East Family Services. Photo / Greg Bowker

“The Christmas Boxes help spread joy and nurture the spirit of manaakitanga (hospitality and generosity) in our community, enriching lives and fostering a brighter, more connected environment,” Dooney says.

Auckland Airport also supports the ME Family Services Resource Room by donating items unclaimed from the airport’s lost property and lost luggage, which the team sort, launder and provide to families in need.

This year, that amounted to 14,147kg of items that still had a useful life given to the resource room, which helped more than 800 families this year.

“Auckland Airport is committed to being a good neighbour to the vibrant South Auckland community we’re proud to be a part of – and this is another way we can contribute,” Dooney says.

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