Andrew Leigh

Kippax Christmas Gift Appeal, The Chronicle, 1 December

For several years now, Kippax Uniting Church has been running a ‘Let’s Give everyone a Christmas’ campaign – providing hampers and gifts to needy families. One year, a mother turned up a day late for her scheduled appointment to collect the toys and food. Deeply apologetic, the mother explained that she had been giving birth to her fourth child the previous day. Without the gift appeal, she explained, there would have been no Christmas in the family that year.

Christmas should be a time of celebration, but for many families it can be a time of stress. One in twenty Australian families say they cannot afford Christmas gifts. Relationship counselling services report that financial worries negatively impact families, and Lifeline has documented a spike in calls during late-December. 

Last year, the Kippax appeal helped Emily, a mother of three who was homeless, escaping from domestic violence.  When she collected her hamper and the gifts for her children, Emily spent quite a lot of time telling her story to the Kippax ‘elf’. This meant she left with a greater sense of social connectedness as well as food.

Kippax also helped Debbie, a grandmother who is raising two of her grandchildren, one of whom has cerebral palsy.  Between medical treatment, educational costs, housing and food, Debbie had little left over. The appeal helped her buy gifts for her grandchildren, and the hampers enabled her to host her family for a Christmas meal.

Will you help make Christmas a time of joy for another Canberra family? To give to the Kippax appeal, just go to www.kippax.org.au.