BLIA South Island’s Annual Christmas Donation Drive

Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island carried out an annual donation drive to Christchurch City Mission for people who are less fortunate to have a good Christmas celebration. Madam Lee Pei Ling, sub president of BLIA North one Chapter, initiated this activity. On 15th Dec 2013, about 20 members of FGS South Island, led by Venerable Jue Xi and President See Shen Lee completed the packing of the various types of food and daily necessities at our premise on 17th Dec 2013 and were sent to Christchurch City Mission.

Christmas is regarded as one of the most important festivals in New Zealand (Similar to the Chinese New Year for the Chinese). It is a tradition for the Kiwis to have reunion dinner with the family members on this special day and celebrate Christmas together. Christchurch City Mission has done a wonderful job in helping people from all walks of life to enjoy this special day, as there are still people who can’t even afford to have a proper meal during Christmas though New Zealand is a wealthy, developed country. According to the statistic, approximately 2500 people have benefited from City Mission’s service in 2012. This showed the importance of such service to the less fortunate group.

BLIA South Island members have collected 30 big boxes of food this year, consisting of the following: Cereals, canned food, spaghetti, rice and noodles. The organiser of Christchurch City Mission, Mary Wood was very grateful towards Fo Guang Shan (FGS) and BLIA for its contributions, and most importantly for the tremendous moral support shown. Members of BLIA are delighted to offer their help and hope that everyone can have a warm and wonderful Christmas.