Porirua couple Helen Brookes and Allan Smith have spent nine years apart at Christmas as Brookes instead donates her time to those less fortunate.
This morning though, Brookes was surprised by TVNZ1's Breakfast's Matty McLean on her back door at Titahi Bay.
She was awarded a Christmas gift hamper, a ham and a $1000 New World giftcard, as Breakfast celebrates generous Kiwis each day this week.
Brookes was nominated by her long-term partner, Smith, who says she's "pretty cool" for the time, effort and work she puts in for others.
"We haven't spent a Christmas together for nine years because she's spent every single one of them feeding everybody else," he said.
Along with 90 volunteers and lots of donations, Brookes runs a massive Christmas lunch for families in the Porirua and Titahi Bay area.
"My boss nine years ago said to me 'we should do something for Christmas Day', so we did for 90 people the first year, 280 last year, so it's growing every year," she said.
"It's for people that have got nowhere else to celebrate, whether they're on their own or they can't afford it or whatever and we're really spoilt, we get lots of donations of food and presents and stuff so it's always a fun day."
Brookes also raises money on other ways, dresses up as Miss Santa Claus for a Christmas event for children and has been coaching Special Olympics for 15 years.
Smith said she had always been thinking of others her whole life.
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