Growing up my family weren't the most well off and we often relied on the help of others just to get by.
My dad was made redundant more than 30 times (yes, 30 times) and my mum often worked three jobs just to keep my three siblings and me from complaining of hunger pangs.
When I was about 8, I remember moving into a new house, in a new town, after my dad had been given a new job and when we arrived we had no food for the first week because dad hadn't received his wages.
That first night a lady from the local church came over with a box of food to welcome us and my mum cried.
This past month, as part of the Rotorua Daily Post Christmas Appeal for the Salvation Army Foodbank, I have been reporting on the generosity of people from all over Rotorua and it has blown me away.