Baked delights will be dispersed to Coromandel emergency services this Christmas Eve to spread Christmas cheer.
The charity drive initiative was established by Tairua resident McKenzie Northcott, who is the Cookie Time Christmas Cookie seller for Coromandel as part of her summer job.
McKenzie’s aim is to donate 200 buckets of cookies to those at Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Hato Hone St John, and Westpac Rescue Helicopter around Hauraki-Coromandel.
So far, she has 44 charity buckets, which have been donated by her customers.
“On Christmas Eve, I’ll do a drive along the Coromandel and divvy the buckets up between them all, I’ll be starting in Tairua, then heading up to Whitianga, then around to Matarangi, Kūaotunu, down the coast and then into Paeroa, Ngatea, doing the rounds,” she said.
McKenzie decided to do the charity drive because many emergency services workers didn’t get to spend Christmas with their loved ones because they were out rescuing on the beach, she said.
“I thought it would be pretty cool to donate buckets on Christmas Eve so at least they felt like they were having Christmas or have the opportunity to take some buckets home for their whanau at the end of Christmas day.
“The population in the Coromandel goes from 0 to 100 over the summer, which means the amount of rescues also go from 0 to 100 and sometimes they’re not recognised for all their hard work so it’s nice to recognise them.”
McKenzie, who has just completed a management studies degree with honours in accounting from the University of Waikato, is selling cookies over summer prior to starting a full-time job at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hamilton.
DETAILS: To donate a bucket, Ph 0800 XCOOKIE or email: mckenzie.northcott@christmascookies.co.nz.
