Shoebox Christmas Aotearoa is where Koha Tree began, and it remains the heart of what we do. Every year, this beautiful initiative ensures that tamariki (children) across New Zealand receive special Christmas gifts, creating joy and connection in communities from Kaitaia to Invercargill.
Shoebox Christmas Aotearoa is a community-driven programme that connects generous kaituku (gifters) with tamariki who could benefit from extra aroha (love) at Christmas time. The concept is beautifully simple: people in the community prepare thoughtful, shoebox-sized gifts for specific children, ensuring every child receives something special that's chosen just for them.
Started in Wellington in 2014 with just 80 gifts, Shoebox Christmas Aotearoa has grown to support over 17,000 tamariki annually across 30+ regions, making it one of New Zealand's largest grassroots Christmas giving programmes. Since starting, the national programme has created over 200,000 moments of aroha and giving.
The magic of Shoebox Christmas lies in its simplicity and personal touch:
1. Schools and Organisations Join Schools, early childhood centres, and social services identify tamariki who would benefit from receiving Christmas koha. Each school, education provider or social service determines who receive koha - the approach is different for different projects. Some give to all the children they support, some allow families to opt-in or opt-out. Others identify children and deliver these to them discretely.
2. Project Coordinators Set Up Community volunteers (often rangatahi leaders) work with these organisations to set up projects on Koha Tree. They gather details about each child - age, gender, interests, and any specific needs - whilst maintaining privacy and safety.
3. Community Members Sign Up The coordinator shares the project through social media, workplace networks, community groups, and word of mouth. Generous community members browse available projects and sign up to give a koha or gift to the tamariki through that project. When they sign up, they receive details about their matched child's age, gender, and interests (when available).
4. Gifts Are Prepared with Aroha Kaituku prepare thoughtful gifts. Each shoebox-sized package is then wrapped by the gifter and delivered to the drop-off location given on the project page, before the drop-off close date.
5. Collection and Distribution Gifts are then sorted and distributed through schools and organisations before the Christmas holidays begin. This ensures whānau receive their koha with enough time to include them in their Christmas celebrations. Some schools or organisations give them to the children during their own Christmas celebration or party, often with the whānau invited - again, this is up to the school or social service and not something decided by the project coordinator.
Shoebox Christmas is grounded in the Māori concept of koha - gifts given freely that create reciprocal relationships and strengthen community bonds. This isn't charity in the traditional sense; it's community members caring for each other's tamariki as part of a larger collective.
The programme embodies the principle "Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi" (With your food basket and my food basket, the people will thrive) - when we combine our individual contributions, the whole community benefits.
