YULETIDE APPEAL
Annual wishing tree sprouts up
Carols, cake, cupcakes, cookies and kapa haka greeted Palmerston North Kmart shoppers this week.
The occasion was the launch of the annual Kmart Wishing Tree Christmas appeal.
After a brass combo from the Salvation Army played seasonal sing-along favourites, a 30-strong kapa haka group, Te Huinga Manu – The Flock of Birds – from Ross Intermediate turned the store’s entrance into an impromptu marae with its performance of waiata and haka to welcome in the wishing tree.
After cake and cookies were handed out, the children joined the band for one last round of carol singing.
Kmart’s Sam Thorsen said that every year for the past 10 years he had seen firsthand the extent of public generosity.
‘‘Christmas can be a hard time when parents find that on top of paying the bills and feeding their families, there are gifts to buy.’’
Last year, the city tree pulled in 5158 gifts – more than any other centre.
‘‘It’s the people who are giving, and the work of the Salvation Army to pass them into the hands of those who need them most – that’s the outstanding part for me. It blows me away,’’ Thorsen said.
The highest total was realised in 2013, when the Palmerston North appeal resulted in 6649 gifts, the second-highest total across Australia and New Zealand.
‘‘They don’t have to be wrapped and they don’t have to come from Kmart,’’ Thorsen said.
As well as bringing in gifts, cash donations can be made at checkouts, self-service stations and online at kmart.co.nz/ wishingtree, while people could buy $5 and $10 ‘‘take me’’ bauble tags off the tree.
Not just for children, Thorsen said the appeal was also seeking gifts for parents and seniors.
‘‘It’s the people who are giving... that’s the outstanding part for me. It blows me away.’’ Sam Thorsen, Kmart Palmerston North