Huge Response to Air New Zealand’s Kids @ Christmas Charity Auction

Kiwis have bid more than $200,000 on items in Air New Zealand’s Kids @ Christmas Charity Auction since it went live two days ago.

Air New Zealand Deputy Chief Executive Norm Thompson said today the airline was overwhelmed by Kiwis’ enthusiasm for the auction, which is offering everything from flights and luxury goods to exclusive ‘money can’t buy’ experiences – all with a $1 reserve.

“The response from Kiwis has been amazing – the inaugural charity auction last year raised more than $264,000 and we’d always hoped to better that this year. Our goal was to hand each of the three charities we’re supporting a cheque for $100,000 - but the strength of the bidding so far indicates we may well beat that target!”

Mr Thompson said he was grateful for the number of New Zealanders willing to spend money to support the three charities – StarShip Foundation, StarJam and Make a Wish Foundation.

Among the most hotly contested items are two months’ unlimited Business Premier travel on Air New Zealand, dinner at Chef Peter Gordon’s Providores restaurant in London and a visit to Steve Williams on the PGA Tour.

Josh Borthwick, GM at sellmefree.co.nz, which is hosting the auction said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of New Zealanders - at times we’ve had more than 2,000 people bidding on the site at once. We’re all very excited to see how much money is raised once the auction closes on 19 December”.

Additional items will be added over the remaining nine days the auction has to run. New items added today include lunch with Lucy Lawless in Los Angeles and Brunch with the TVNZ Breakfast team Pippa Wetzell and Paul Henry.

The auction is available on sellmefree.co.nz

ENDS

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