Children donate food and gifts to burgled city church
Children have donated food and gifts to help replace thousands of dollars of food for disadvantaged families stolen from a Palmerston North church.
Turitea Childcare Centre’s 38 children and their parents collected three boxes of food and two sacks of gifts to donate to The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit on Broadway.
The church’s foodbank, run by the Society of St Vincent de Paul, was targeted by thieves who took more than a thousand dollars of food and Christmas hampers that were to go to people in need.
The society’s Palmerston North president, Mike Keenan, discovered the burglary at 9am on Sunday November 29, when he went to fetch drinks for children after mass.
Turitea Centre manager Lynn Ingram said her dad was involved with the church, which sparked discussions about what the children could do to help.
‘‘We decided that we are community based, so wanted to help.’’ Teachers had been talking to the children about helping those who were less fortunate.
‘‘It has just been quite overwhelming, the amount people have gifted.
‘‘We are really touched.’’
Ingram said it was nice that the children were able to visit the church to see where their donations were going.
Society of St Vincent de Paul regional president Roger Clark said people had been generous in the aftermath of the burglary.
‘‘We are grateful for the kindness since the burglary. This is a great display of people giving and generosity and kindness at this time of the year.’’
Monsignor David Bell said the community support had been tremendous and the foodbank had received more items from the community than it lost in the burglary.
Twomen, aged 41 and 25, have been charged with burglary and are due to appear in the Palmerston North District Court next month.
‘‘We are grateful for the kindness since the burglary.’’
Roger Clark Society of St Vincent de Paul