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Christchurch City Mission struggling under Christmas pressure
21 Dec, 2020 06:17 PM
2 minutes to read
NZ Herald
By: Kim Moodie
The Christchurch City Mission is facing unprecedented demand for food parcels from desperate families facing a tough Christmas.
It is appealing for donations of food and money as the mission s food supply rapidly dwindles in the face of overwhelming need.
CEO Matthew Mark said the weekly demand had already shot up 200 per cent on last year. In the first hour just today [Monday] alone we processed as many people through our food bank as we would in two and a half days.
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JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/STUFF
The Christchurch City Mission s Christmas lunch attracts over a thousand visitors each year. (Video first published December 2019).
Christmas lunch will still be served at the Christchurch City Mission this year despite Auckland cancelling its event. The Auckland City Mission announced last Wednesday that its big Christmas lunch would be canned due to concerns about potential community transmission of Covid-19. About 1600 people attended the lunch last year. Five separate, smaller lunches would instead be held, a spokeswoman for Auckland City Mission said last week.
John Kirk-Anderson/Stuff
Santa’s arrival goes down well with guests at last year’s annual Christmas Lunch in Christchurch. (File photo)