Assistance Dogs New Zealand Trust (ADNZT) is a small, New Zealand-based charity providing purpose-trained Assistance Dogs to enrich the lives of Kiwis living with a range of disabilities. We were established in 2008 by Julie and Rick Hancox.

72% of those we work with are children and young adults under 20 years old, and 50% live with autism and often multiple disorders. We are committed to providing a quality service which evaluates each applicant individually. To ensure we meet the specific needs of our client, we undertake assessments, provide ongoing training and carry out routine follow-ups.

The dogs we output perform a range of tasks that enable their clients and families to function better in their homes, as well as in the wider community. We are internationally accredited by Assistance Dogs International and recognised by the New Zealand Government as having government-granted public access rights.

Visit our website: https://www.assistancedogstrust.org.nz/

How we spent the money

In 2022, we were the grateful recipients of $589 from The Giving Tree. This generous donation helped us to buy new training supplies including jackets, leads, collars and stimulating toys for our 26 puppies in training (11 of whom joined our Puppy Development Program during April 2023).

Our puppies are working very hard towards becoming life-changing Assistance Dogs for their future clients, and they are so grateful for your support. Thank you so much to The Giving Tree and to those who purchased Christmas cards last year for making this possible.

Duffy Books in Homes provides free books, three times a year, to over 100,000 New Zealand children in low-decile schools. For every twenty seven Christmas cards purchased from The Giving Tree one child will receive all the benefits of the Duffy programme for an entire year.

Duffy Books in Homes vision is to break the cycle of booklessness in New Zealand by inspiring a love of books in Duffy children so they become adults who inspire a love of reading.

Children receive a minimum of five brand new books of their choice each year at no charge.  In addition, children can earn weekly 'Caught Being Good' book awards as well as other awards for effort and attitude.  Prominent New Zealand Role Models present the books and spread the message 'It's Cool to Read and Cool to Achieve!'

Visit us at www.booksinhomes.org.nz

How we spent the money

In 2022, 66 children received a minimum of five brand new books of thier choice thanks to the generosity of businesses working with The Giving Tree.
Many of these children have little or no reading material in their homes so the gift of reading will make an enourmous difference to their lives.
We are thrilled that The Giving Tree and its supporters have been able to contribute to the more than 10 million books we have distributed since 2022.

Macular Degeneration (MD) is a growing epidemic and is the leading cause of blindness in New Zealand.  One in seven people over 50 years of age will get MD.  If left untreated, MD leads to blindness.  With 1,500,000 people in the at risk age group, 160,000 diagnosed and 33,000 suffering from vision loss, the work of MDNZ is vital in saving sight for thousands of New Zealanders.

MDNZ aims to reduce the impact and incidence of MD in New Zealand by raising awareness, providing information, education and support and providing referral pathways to effective treatments and low vision aids.  Awareness is the key to saving sight and through the sale of these Christmas cards more people will know of MD, know of this eye disease and of the support provided by MDNZ.  As awareness grows so does the demand for services.  The 'save sight' helpline took four times the number of calls in 2014 over 2013, and three times the information packs were sent out.  For more information please visit our website www.mdnz.org.nz

How we spent the money

MDNZ is extremely grateful to The Giving Tree to provide us with this opportunity to raise funds to provide services. All of our services are funded by donations, grants and sponsorship and we could not meet the needs of the NZ community without every contribution that we receive. As awareness of this eye disease increases, so does demand for information and support.

The funds raised through The Giving Tree has enabled us to send information packs out to callers to our save sight helpline.

Thank you to The Giving Tree and all of those who purchased Christmas cards last Christmas.

When the world's most vulnerable kids need hope, UNICEF is there as the world's leading children's charity. From emergency relief during conflict, natural disasters, and famine - all the way through to long-term solutions that have helped lift millions of kids out of poverty.

When you choose UNICEF as your charity, the money raised will be used to support children in greatest need. When kids need clean water, medical supplies, shelter, life-saving vaccines and treatment for malnutrition - anywhere in the world - your support will help ensure they receive it.

To find out more about our work for kids, visit our website

How we spent the money

Thank you so much to The Giving Tree and to all of you who buy a Christmas card for supporting UNICEF. All funds raised from the sale of the cards will support our work with children everywhere, including in Aotearoa, across the Pacific and around the world.

The money raised from the sale of last year's cards went to help children in Greatest Need. This included providing clean water for children experiencing conflict in Ukraine, making sure kids in Pakistan could continue learning after devastating floods, and helping provide enough therapeutic food to treat 1.3 million malnourished children in the Horn of Africa.

A big thank you to everyone who bought a Chrismast card last year, your support again this year would be gratefully received.