The Smith Family Christmas delivers thousands of gifts to disadvantaged children
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Volunteers from The Smith Family have spread Christmas cheer to a record number of disadvantaged families in South Australia, delivering toys and books to more than 2,000 children across the state.
More than 250 volunteers loaded their cars with presents in Adelaide to make Christmas come early for 2,400 children.
Watching her children unwrap presents delivered by volunteers on Sunday, Sareena Van Eck said she was extremely grateful to The Smith Family and those who had donated the goods.
"It means a lot, massively, it's awesome," she said.
"We lost their father the day after Christmas last year so it was a pretty stressful Christmas last year.
"It is tough, emotionally I find, but we all stick together and work together."
The Smith Family's South Australian general manager Graham Jaeschke said the charity was helping a growing number of families who struggle to make ends meet.
"We have had an upsurge but we are also helping more families," he said.
"It's pretty tough out there and it's great that we can share Christmas with all of these families."
Mr Jaeschke said the state's high unemployment rate and the rising cost of living was increasing the burden on families.
"We know that growing up in poverty can mean going without all year round, but it's particularly hard for children at this time of year," he said.
"It's all about making sure they don't feel isolated and they share Christmas. It's a wonderful time but it can also be a tough time for a lot of families."
This year The Smith Family distributed 100,000 new toys and books, which were generously donated by the community to 20,000 children across Australia.
'For us it's just a few hours of our time'
They are also working to raise $3.7 million through their annual Christmas appeal to help children through their out-of-school learning and mentoring programs.
"The important thing is that we can not only give them toys and books this year but we can also provide that ongoing learning support throughout the year for families because we know education has the power to change lives," Mr Jaeschke said.
Chris Crabbe said he volunteered to help deliver presents this year because he wanted to do what he could to help those less fortunate.
"For us it's just a few hours of our time but for those families it's a lot more than that," he said.
"I think for them it's going to mean a lot and just to have those presents under the tree on Christmas day, they will be happy."
Topics: charities, community-and-society, adelaide-5000, sa, australia
