By Parker McKenzie
Placing a present under the Christmas tree at Belgrave Library or dropping it off at the lower level of the Belgrave Community hub before Tuesday 13 December could make the world of difference to someone struggling this Christmas.
Dandenong Ranges Emergency Relief Service’s annual Christmas appeal has started, with the not-for-profit seeking new, unwrapped gifts for children and holiday foodstuffs for those in need.
DRERS manager Tania Bevan said the aim is to have enough presents and Christmas hampers so that every family who needs one can have a wonderful Christmas.
“Suitable gifts for children from babies up to 17 years old are anything people think would be suitable, like sporting goods such as basketballs, cricket bats, footballs and toys,” she said.
“For the hampers, it is things like Christmas cakes, Christmas pudding, custard, sweet and savoury biscuits and jars of coffee that are always wonderful.”
Foodstuffs for the Christmas hampers must be dropped off at the Belgrave Community Hub while presents left under the giving tree don’t need to be wrapped as they will be displayed on tables for people to choose from.
Ms Bevan said every year the generosity shown by people donating items reinforces her feelings of what “a wonderful community we have.”
“People readily donate to make sure that the people who can’t afford these things don’t go without; it’s a wonderful sense of the Christmas spirit in our community,” she said.
“They’ll have something special under the tree for their children. They will have some special Christmas festive food. That’s a sense of relief and a sense of being looked after.”
DRERS at the Belgrave Community Hub is open Monday to Friday 9am to 12pm and the Belgrave Library is open 9am to 5.30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 9am to 8pm on Thursday and 10am to 1pm on Saturdays.
Ms Bevan said she would like to thank everyone who has supported the Christmas program in the past and anyone who’s going to support it again in the future.
“It is a need and we can’t fill that need without the support from the community, organisations and businesses that help us and I would just like to impress on them that it really does make a difference to people,” she said.
“We’ve seen people cry with relief when they’ve received these things and it really is humbling to see and be a part of.”
For more information about DRERS, visit drers.org.au
