Denise Pou gets paid $21 an hour - more than the minimum wage - but still, after she's paid her rent and other bills she admits there's "bugger all" left for food and gifts for her family's Christmas.
Pou, a teacher aide at Rosehill College in Auckland's Papakura for the past two years, is among thousands of Kiwis needing an extra helping hand this busy season.
She said she loves her job but that rent is steep at $600 a week.
"You have to live in bulk families to be able to afford that."
Pou said there was "bugger all" left after paying rent and power - around $112 left for food and car costs.
"You don’t have anything really," she said of presents for her mokopuna (grandchildren) come Christmas.
"You just try to survive on what you do have to put food on the table, but to make Christmas special you just have to find other means and coming to the City Mission and Papakura Marae really does help a lot."
She's not alone, though.
Auckland City Mission has five donation sites - three marae, Eden Park and Vision West - set up around the city for needy people to book appointments to collect donated goods this year.
Each of those sites get about 40,000 calls every day.
"People just really desperate, desperate to get some food for this week leading up to Christmas," the organisation's chief executive and city missioner Chris Farrelly earlier told Breakfast.
People can donate to Auckland City Mission at the Grafton Shop and Trade Me Pick-up Location at 15 Auburn Street, or online .
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