Brianna-Mackenzie Frame with the Secret Santa gift her grandfather Clarrie had hoped to make for her before he died.
Brianna-Mackenzie Frame with the Secret Santa gift her grandfather Clarrie had hoped to make for her before he died.
Registrations have closed, the santas have been named, and the sleuthing has begun.
Welcome to New Zealand's seventh annual national Secret Santa, a small initiative that's become so popular that our Prime Minister has joined in.
A record breaking 3623 people on Twitter registered for the gift giving extravaganza this year, a far cry from the event's small beginnings in 2010 when Waikato man Sam Elton-Walters first launched it.
Then, 386 people signed up.
Now, the event is so large New Zealand Post has taken over its organisation.
The premise is simple. Twitter users who registered throughout November were on Thursday given the name of the person they were to buy for- another Tweeter.
Using the power of social media Secret Santas are encouraged to sleuth- not stalk- their giftee to come up with an ideal present costing about $10, to be posted before Christmas.
So you may have noticed I don't tweet especially often (I just lurk) but as a ridiculous lover of Christmas, I couldn't miss the chance to join the @nzsecretsanta movement. Registration ends tomorrow so feel free to join in my over the top Christmas cheer
When his father died suddenly of a heart attack Frame blogged about it online, writing of his heartbreak that his dad didn't get to fulfill his dying wish- making his grand daughter a special gift.
The late Clarrie Frame was a handyman and the last time he and Andrew Frame spoke he talked about wanting to make some 'angel wings' for Frame's then-newborn Brianna-Mackenzie Frame.
The late Clarrie Frame with granddaughter Brianna-Mackenzie Frame.
Enter New Zealand Secret Santa.
Frame said he burst into tears after opening his gift just shy of Christmas Day in 2014.
"It completely caught me off guard."
His Secret Santa had gone through many months of Frame's blog posts and come across the entry about his father's death.
Inside Frame's gift box was the memento Clarrie Frame had hoped to make young Brianna-Mackenzie- a polished wood frame and soldered 'Little Angel' wings.
It now takes pride of place in Brianna-Mackenzie's room and to this day, Frame still doesn't know who the gifter is.
"I think it's nice for it to be that little bit of a mystery. Even though I just turned 40-years-old I still believe in Santa to a degree- in terms of giving and selflessness.
"In writing the blog I did let the secret santa knows how much it means, so they have been thanked. I'm indebted to (Secret Santa) now, really. I sign up every year."
'Chief elf' Secret Santa volunteer Aj Sheterline said organisers were "thrilled" with this year's uptake.
"Especially all the new players that have come on board. We're really looking forward to seeing what amazing and unique gifts the santas can pull out of the bag this time around and are very much looking forward to dispatch day."
This year he told a TEDx Talks audience: "I began to wonder, what would it be like if we did it on a larger scale and how would it work if you did it on Twitter? I thought about it and then the next day I started asking people, would you like to take part in a Secret Santa game? Lots of people said yes, and New Zealand's Secret Santa was born."
Ideas were bounced around on Twitter, a spreadsheet expert offered to help, and volunteers were assembled.
He handed the scheme over to New Zealand Post after it became too large for him to manage, and he wanted to concentrate on pumpkin growing.
Since then the national game has been talked about in international publications like the Guardian, Huffington Post, and ABC.
