Every kid in Mid Canterbury deserved to be visited by Santa.

But not everyone can put out cookies and milk for him, so the Ashburton Mitre 10 crew has teamed up to deliver gifts to those less fortunate.

$2000 worth of toy drills, soccer balls and more was donated to the Ashburton branches of Birthright, who help one-parent families, and St Vincent de Paul.

Marketing manager Lisa Scammell said the Ashburton store had donated Christmas gifts to the charities for at least seven years, perhaps more.

She said the staff were always excited to assemble the gift haul and that it bought an air of pride to the store.

It was always special to hear about the kids receiving toys after they’d been distributed.

“They always really appreciate it, especially getting new toys.”

Ashburton Birthright social worker Christine Muff said brand new toys helped provide kids in tough situations with a feeling of normalcy.

“For a lot of our families, they have to buy second hand gifts.

“Giving them a new gift… they’re not different from any other child then.”

She said there were roughly 150 children on her books, but that number was always changing.

Ashburton St Vincent de Paul Food Bank president Trevor Wall said the gifts meant a lot to the families as a whole.

“These toys will go through to the shop, and some of them get handed out when we’re out distributing food.”

He said the children who received the toys were always very polite and appreciative.

The team cumulated the toys in a few days and they’ll be distributed by the two charities ahead of Christmas.

By Anisha Satya