What was going to be Secret Santa gifts for the Porirua Rotary Club members at the annual Christmas party  became Christmas gifts for the less fortunate families in Porirua. 
 
President Steve Haddock said that Club members decided to make up 20 boxes to spread the Christmas cheer to the community. With the generous support of Club members, friends, work colleagues and local businesses such as New World Porirua,  KMart Porirua and PaperPlus North City, the Club put together just over 135 gift boxes in three weeks. 
Each box contains all things Christmas and a reading book which has a Rotary designed label on the inside cover. The Christmas gift boxes called the 'shoebox pressie' have been distributed to a local school and the Wesley Community Action group. 
Project co-ordinator and President Elect, June Murugan said that the Club would not have been able to deliver such a large number of gift boxes without the support from friends of Rotary Porirua and the local businesses.  One of Rotary's key focus areas is to support education and literacy, and each of the gift boxes contains a book from the latest summer titles. We hope that the families and children enjoy reading over the holidays, she said. 
With such an overwhelming responses this year he hopes that this project will become even bigger next year and that other Clubs will want to join in this initiative for their own communities.
Nice work for such a small club  smiley
AG Adrienne Murray and President Steve Haddock of Rotary Porirua handing over some of the gifts to the Team at the Wesley Community Action Group.
  June Murugan and friends also delivering
  Paula Williams at one of the local schools