Adopt A Family This Christmas

Since 2005, local services in the Whitsundays have partnered with the Whitsunday Neighborhood Centre to nominate families and individuals in need of extra support during the holiday season. The Adopt a Family initiative then creates an anonymous list of these nominees for the community to adopt.
Adopting a family simply means donating a gift card—of any value—to help brighten their Christmas. It's not about hosting individuals but offering a thoughtful contribution to those in need.
It could range from a reef trip to a $50 voucher for Woolworths, no donation is too big or small.
While the old ‘Adopt a Family’ process consisted of creating hampers, Executive Officer at the Whitsunday Neighbourhood Centre, Rebecca Woods, mentioned how gift vouchers became the preferred option:
“For a lot of people, when they're in these circumstances, they have very little control their situations, so to actually have some control over their Christmas and how they want to celebrate can be extremely empowering for them.
“It is also very hard for someone to buy a hamper of gifts for a person or family who they don’t know very well.”
Rebecca shared that all donations are needed by December 10th to allow the nominated families ample time to prepare for Christmas, helping to ease some of the stress associated with the holiday season.
Given the ongoing cost-of-living challenges, receiving a donated gift can be especially meaningful for families in need, particularly during the financially demanding Christmas period.
"We have such a generous community," Rebecca said.
"Everyone really rallies together at Christmas to support those who are struggling."
If you’d like to help, make Christmas a little brighter for a local family, visit the Whitsunday Neighbourhood Centre's Facebook page for more information on how to adopt a family this holiday season.

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Adopt a family this Christmas!

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