This Christmas, our services are drawing on their close ties to their local communities. From the Gold Coast and Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast and the Fraser Coast, our teams and their community partners are coming together to deliver festive cheer where it is needed most.
For the third consecutive year, the Fraser Coast Centacare Housing and Homelessness support team partnered with the Wide Bay chapter of Motorcyclists Advocating Child Empowerment (MACE) and Independent Riders. Throughout November the whole community donated toys at multiple collection points including at local schools. MACE and Independent Riders collected the toys for the housing support team to sort, ready to gift to families within the Housing and Homelessness program. The big motorcycling toy run was held on 1st December, receiving even more toys for families in the housing program as well as other services in the Fraser Coast area.
Also on the Fraser Coast, the Specialist Family and Support Services team partnered with RizeUp to ensure that mums and children impacted by domestic and family violence receive gifts this Christmas. “We’ve worked with the incredible team at RizeUp for four years now. They collect and deliver the toys to us,” says Patricia Gorman, Fraser Coast Area Manager.
“This year, we set up our Christmas tree and we’re placing the toys and gifts underneath in gift bags and boxes. We’re giving our mums the opportunity to peek and choose a gift for each of their children to open on Christmas day. This is the first year we’ve run it this way to give mum some autonomy over the selection of the gifts. Because mum always knows best!” added Patricia.
The incredible team at RizeUp, a not-for-profit based on the Gold Coast, also partnered with our Sunshine Coast Specialist Family and Support Services team. “RizeUp not only collected and delivered toys and gifts to us but they also reached out to local businesses here on the Sunshine Coast to create collection points for further donations. So it’s really the whole community coming together,” says Hayley Smith, a coordinator with the team.
“We’re on track to pack over 40 hampers this year, each includes a board game which helps to bring mum and kids together for some quality time.”
On the Gold Coast our Domestic and Family Violence Services team, also work with RizeUp and Share the Dignity to provide gifts and essential care items for their clients. “These are women and children in the process of re-building their lives after leaving a home where they were impacted by domestic or family violence. This means a lot and shows that the community is there for them,” says Thilini, Service Delivery Coordinator.
“We have our wonderful volunteer craft ladies too who come in and donate their time and the materials to make beautiful hand sewn Santa sacks for the donated gifts. Our generous staff also run a secret Santa for our clients. So, any mum or child that doesn’t receive a gift through our partnerships will be remembered by our staff.”
Supporting others at Christmas time brings together community members of all ages.
At St Bernardine’s Outside School Hours Care in Regents Park, the children have been working together to bring cheer to children who will be spending time in Logan Hospital over Christmas.
“We put the call out to our families in late November to bring in toy donations. The response is always wonderful with children excitedly placing gifts under the tree. By the time we have our Christmas party in mid December we have a huge stack of toys under the tree and taking up most of the foyer! We present the toys to the Logan Hospital team the week before Christmas,” says Karen, Service Leader.
The children also create colouring in packs for children who find themselves in the Logan Hospital Emergency Department over Christmas, so that they have something fun and festive to do.
“These initiatives demonstrate to our children the good that we can do when we all come together as a community,” adds Karen.