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Wrapping up the season with stories of Christmas donations
Stories of impact from Christmas' past
Christmas can be a tough time for many, and that's especially true in 2023. Millions of people across Australia are struggling this festive season. More households than ever are experiencing food insecurity¹, caused in part by the steepest increase in cost of living in over 20 years².
Your donations can make a huge difference to someone in need at this time of year.
Here’s a list of past Christmas donation stories featured in this story, click one close to your heart or keep scrolling to enjoy all the stories:
- Christmas gifts for kids in foster care
- Christmas Gifts for First Nations Mums
- Festive joy for disaster-impacted communities
- Spreading Christmas cheer across the nation
- Bringing a mum and her kids together with Christmas donations
- Christmas came early for this mum after pre-loved baby items found a home
- Last-minute Christmas presents donations for families struggling to make ends meet
Below you can read all the past examples of how the generosity of big-hearted GIVIT donors has brightened the festive season of people in need.
Charity Christmas gifts for kids in foster care
For children living in foster care, the festive season is often a complex and emotional experience. While they may feel excited about Christmas, this excitement can be overshadowed by sadness, missing their biological families, previous trauma, and a longing for stability.
In Ipswich, GIVIT provided toys, games, lego and sports equipment as Christmas gifts to the Child Safety Service Centre to give out to kids living in foster care and their foster families at their Christmas party.
For these children, Christmas toy donations can be huge in helping them to feel loved and cared for, and giving them something special of their own to look forward to playing with.
The children had an incredible Christmas party and everyone was so appreciative of the GIVIT Christmas gifts.
Christmas Gifts for First Nations Mums
The Killara Foundation supports First Nations Australians by assisting with housing an employment opportunities, mentoring and youth work.
The Killara Indgenous Women's Hub in Geelong, Victoria is a culturally safe space to bring women together to help each other grow and progress.
For the hub's Christmas party, GIVIT provided craft activities for the kids that attended, and vouchers for the hub to buy a Christmas present for all of the deserving mums.
Christmas joy for disaster-impacted communities
Christmas can be an emotional time for families and towns recovering from natural disasters. Traditions are interrupted, finances are strained, and people can feel isolated and uncertain about the future. The holiday season can also be a reminder of what's been lost, such as homes and possessions.
In Lismore, GIVIT worked with the council to provide 40 Christmas trees, and plenty of baubles and tinsel to pass on to flood-affected families.
Many families were living in temporary accommodation, or had lost their jobs due to their workplace being flooded.
The volunteer said it was an emotional time for families and children who received the items, and explained that it was a hugely important Christmas for the Lismore community to bring some normality and celebration to people's lives during a tough time.
"Sending big hugs to you all at GIVIT and our deepest thanks for all of your fast acting and fantastically organised support at Xmas and since the floods (bushfires too) began.
"What a time it is in our country, and you are still there alongside all of the different groups, helping to hold all of our disaster-affected community afloat."
- Flood recovery worker, Lismore City Council
In Victoria, Greater Shepparton Lighthouse was supporting the communities of Barmah and Cummergunja, where 180 families were completely cut off by floodwaters and provisions had to be brought in by boat.
GIVIT provided two chest freezers to assist with storage of food and essentials, and thousands of dollars worth of grocery vouchers. Staff from the charity made 'Christmas elf' visits to local families, dropping off Christmas puddings purchased with the grocery vouchers, as well as bottles of moisturiser donated into GIVIT's online warehouse by a generous corporate donor.
Spreading Christmas cheer across the nation
Above left: Redland Community Centre using vouchers from GIVIT to buy Christmas presents for children aged 0-16 that were then provided free to local families experiencing hardship.
Above middle: Ringwood Church in Victoria worked with a local primary school to identify 16 vulnerable students, and provided them with Christmas hamper gifts provided by GIVIT.
Above right: Thanks to generous GIVIT donors, Mission Australia in Darwin provided Christmas food hampers to First Nations Australians whose lives had been impacted by suicide.
A Christmas party for a remote town
GIVIT has worked extensively with the Dr Steve Burroughs Foundation, whose aim is to help First Nations Australians living in remote and regional communities.
The town of Peak Hill in regional New South Wales has been heavily impacted by COVID-19, flooding and cost of living over the past few years.
Dr Steve headed out to the Peak Hill Community Boori Christmas Party, organised by Neighbourhood Central. GIVIT provided toys for local kids, as well as items for self-care hampers for the grown ups.
We managed to deliver 160 men’s and women’s bags filled with mostly items donated via GIVIT... We made a whole community extremely happy and provided a lot of smiles. The thanks from people and children was enormous.
Without GIVIT our foundation would struggle to meet our demand.
Bringing a mum and her kids together with Christmas donations
In Sydney, Community Restorative Centre (CRC) was supporting young mum Anna* and her two children. As a survivor of sexual abuse and domestic violence, Anna was engaged in residential rehabilitation in the lead-up to Christmas.
While she was unable to physically spend Christmas with her children, GIVIT provided vouchers that meant Anna could pick Christmas presents for her kids from a catalogue, and the CRC support worker could then buy them and deliver to them to Anna's kids in time for Christmas Day.
The support worker said that even though the children were too young to understand why their mum wasn't with them on Christms Day, they were so excited to receive presents from her.
Christmas came early for this mum after pre-loved baby items found a home
An 18-year-old mum and her new bub were leaving residential care after escaping domestic violence. With the support of Vinnies, she found affordable housing, however, she is struggling to afford most of the baby essentials. Thanks to the GIVIT community, we provided pre-loved baby items, such as a cot, changing table etc.
"I just delivered the nicest cot, mattress, change table, and drawer set to a young mum. She has had such a rough year. She had most of her things stolen/ damaged and was not doing well. She had such a big smile on her face as we delivered the items this morning.
She and her mum were cleaning up her unit and it was like a million Christmas’s to deliver the items donated through GIVIT. I haven’t seen the young mum smile like that in a while. Tears!!!”
Last minute Christmas presents for families in need
"We have used GIVIT for several years. We have been donated everything from bassinets to vouchers, double prams (brand new) to car seats! Nothing is too much to request.
At Christmas, within 24 hours of requesting, I was donated vouchers to purchase Christmas gifts and grocery vouchers for families that come through our department. The support that GIVIT and their corporate partners provide is instrumental in us supporting our children and families within our department.
Signing up and using GIVIT is easy and we can't thank GIVIT and NRMA Insurance enough for everything they do for us."
- Staff member from WA Government Department of Communities (Child Protection and Family Support)
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Lawn mower
Mum and four children living in a large property. The family are experiencing domestic violence via stalking.
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Bruce
ACT 2617
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Bruce
ACT 2617
Grocery voucher - $50
Young mum has diagnosed with Stage 3 Cancer, currently undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy requires support.
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Langford
WA 6147
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Langford
WA 6147
Math flashcards
Disadvantaged students seeking education sources during times of Financial Hardship and Home Disruption.
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Woden
ACT 2606
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Woden
ACT 2606
Kitchen starter - utensils, frypan, saucepan
Young mum who has fled family violence living in her car and tent with 3 children requires support.
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Ballina
NSW 2478
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Ballina
NSW 2478
Clothing voucher - $50
Young dad working hard to make things right for his 6-month-old little boy
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Penguin
TAS 7316
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Penguin
TAS 7316
Educational Toy
A four-person family who have escaped DV and have recently secured a tenancy but have very little living basics.
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Murarrie
QLD 4172
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Murarrie
QLD 4172
Clothing rack
Single Mum who is a refugee with no income and a baby
Post / Courier
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Shepparton
VIC 3630
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Voucher
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Shepparton
VIC 3630
Kmart voucher - $20
To be able to get clothes to have at school for students who have accidents.
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Post / Courier
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Kalgoorlie
WA 6430
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Post / Courier
Voucher
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Kalgoorlie
WA 6430
Car seat
Young dad, fighting to show he can care for his child and achieve reunification.
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Post / Courier
Voucher
Penguin
TAS 7316
Delivery
Drop off
Post / Courier
Voucher
Area
Penguin
TAS 7316
How to help people in need this Christmas
This Christmas your generosity can have a huge impact on someone's life. Here are some of the ways you can help:
- Follow our 12 Days of Giving campaign on Facebook or Instagram as we try to get practical support to as many people as possible this November.
- Support GIVIT to allow us to help thousands of people doing it tough this Christmas.
- Instead of buying a present, give a Christmas gift in lieu through GIVIT to a loved one.
¹ https://reports.foodbank.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/2023_Foodbank_Hunger_Report_Summary.pdf
² https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/employee-households-see-biggest-rise-living-costs
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One million items for people impacted by COVID
With support from NRMA and RACV, GIVIT recently coordinated the donation of its one-millionth item/service to people impacted by COVID-19.
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Our Impact | Three years on from the Black Summer Bushfires
Recovery from the devastating Black Summer Bushfires has been tough. Three years on, here's a look at the impact GIVIT has had helping communities to rebuild, recover and heal.
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Giving spirit helps seniors maintain connection, mobility, and happiness
GIVIT's kind-hearted kind partner Golding shows their continuous support to GIVIT, and donates valuable items to the community including bedframes and laptops helping people in need.
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Warm clothes for winter in WA
The cost of living is forcing many people to choose between rent, groceries, power bills and warm clothing. Support from Hanes helps us get warm clothes into regional areas.
