WE DID IT!!!

Thank you doesn’t seem enough to convey our appreciation for the incredible community support for this year’s toy drive for over 1,500 children in need, under the care of 9 not for profit support organisations. It was a big number to aim for, and while we didn’t count every single toy, what truly matters is that every organisation has enough toys for all of their children!!

The toys were distributed to children under the care of BayCISS ,Chelsea Community Support, SECASA, Emerge Support for Women & Children, Olive’s Place, Grace Heart Community Church, Uniting Vic/Tas, BHN, and VACCA. Many organisations collected multiple carloads, with VACCA alone taking three very full van loads! VACCA also received 100 sanitary packs & 120 mini toiletry packs to help over the holiday period.

We also distributed a whopping 142 vouchers to teenagers across most of the organisations. Plus 30 Christmas hampers went to 2 local domestic violence organisations for families under their care thanks to Crossway Baptist Church in Brighton.

Thank you also to the amazing volunteers who clear our donation stations, even more so the last few weeks! It is a major support.

Thank you to everyone who donated, held toy drives, shared our posts and rallied others to support this cause. The list is simply too long to name, but we’ve shared many of these amazing contributions over the past few weeks.

This year has been a tireless effort, with extremely limited space and a constant juggle. Aid began going out in late November to free up room as we approached our cutoff date. On top of this, we’ve received 11 unprecedented aid requests in the past three weeks, and the need will continue right through.

Because of all of you, so many children who would otherwise have had nothing this festive season will now have big smiles on their faces.