Christmas Joy Store brings happiness to Auckland families in need

The Christmas Joy Store creator Sarah Page, pictured with her son Max, wants to make sure kids in need aren’t left with no presents under the tree after a tough year. Photo / Supplied

A toy store with a difference is bringing joy – and tears – to families in need this Christmas.

Instead of being given donated gifts for their children, parents and caregivers going through tough times can choose the gifts themselves, all of which are free.

The Christmas Joy Store opened on Saturday last week and within a few days up to 800 gifts were going out in a single day, said Sarah Page, who opened the store through her charity, The Kindness Collective.

The aim is to provide at least 2000 Auckland children with three or four gifts and a food treat box each, and give parents and caregivers the dignity of choosing their child’s gift.

It will be open until December 20.

“We’re only on day three”, Page said this week.

“But there has already been lots of tears. I had a mum who came through and said, ‘I can finally give my kids the Christmas they deserve, and that will stay with me the rest of my life’.

“It was really lovely to be able to make her the most important part of that process.”

Volunteers stock shelves at the Christmas Joy Store, where everything is free. Photo / Supplied

She thought of opening a free toy store after being inspired by the “Free Guys” social supermarket initiative, which operates under a “take what you need, pay what you can” ethos.

Those in need were referred to the Christmas Joy Store by about 30 organisations around Auckland, Page said.

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“[With] Covid it has been a really rough 18 months for a lot of people. And a lot of the families that we were doing toys for, we actually had to pack a lot of the bags [for them] today because a lot have been affected by Covid.

“They’re isolating, half of them have Covid and they’ve been so affected by it. [Or] they’ve lost jobs, they’ve got no transport and they weren’t able to come to the store.

“It’s just been a really tough time.”

One visitor to the store told the Herald on Sunday her budget had been seriously stretched by inflation pumping up food prices, kids unable to access school breakfast and lunch programmes for three months plus lockdown-boosted power and water bills as she worked from home, and the kids did online school.

“Our grocery bill went up [since lockdown], probably $100 a week. There’s a lot more [financial] pressure”, the mum-of-four said.

“It’s an embarrassing feeling to have to ask for help, nobody wants to admit that. I did contemplate not going in, but I want my children to be happy, and this meant I didn’t have to choose between paying the rent and buying Christmas presents.”

Inside she found a judgment-free zone and a space that looked like any other store, only “when you get to the end, you don’t have to pay”, the woman said.

“Presents aren’t everything, but for kids, it does make Christmas more magical.”

Word about the store was out, and demand was increasing, with some families referred by social services having to go on a waitlist, Page said.

“We’re having to go out and make Warehouse trips to get enough. Zero to 5 years boy and girl toys, we just can’t seem to get enough of those. We’ve got capacity for more, we just need more donations.

“There’s incredible charities in New Zealand doing amazing things, incredible iwi doing wonderful things with their communities. And it’s still not enough.

“There will still at the end of Christmas be thousands and thousands of children that went without.”

How to help:

The Christmas Joy Store gets a discount from the Warehouse, so financial donations are welcome and can be made via The Kindness Collective website:
www.kindness.co.nz/donate

Individuals or businesses wanting to donate toys or treat food items can find out drop-off locations by emailing hello@kindness.co.nz