THIS DECEMBER, nationwide domestic and family violence support charity ‘Friends with Dignity’, are running their Annual Christmas Toy Drive around Australia.
The aim of this brilliant initiative is to collect Christmas gifts for survivors of domestic and family violence.
‘Friends with Dignity’ Christmas Toy Drive Queensland Coordinator, Renee Polden, hopes this year the Toy Drive will gain the same response as last year, despite the challenges of 2020.
“We’re not sure what the response is going to be this year, purely because it’s been a challenging [year] for a lot,” Ms Polden said.
“However, you can support this drive in such a small way, you don’t have to spend a lot of money, you don’t have to spend a lot of time, so we’re still hoping it does get a great response.
The Christmas Toy Drive, which is in its fifth consecutive year, accepts a range of gifts, from toys to gift cards. Ms Polden said there’s no gift too small or too big.
“All kids love toys,” she said. “But we have teenagers there as well, and sometimes they get forgotten about.
“We sometimes ask for pamper items for the parents because there’s also parents that are going through that situation, so it’s nice for them to receive a bit of happiness as well.”
Ms Polden said wrapping paper, sticky tape or Christmas bags also go a long way.
“We ask for the gifts to be unwrapped, that way we can give them to the right demographics, and it also gives parents a sense of being involved by being able to wrap [the gifts].
The Toy Drive, Ms Polden said, is an important part of ensuring victims of family and domestic violence have some normality and happiness at Christmas.
“It should be one of the happiest times of the year for everyone,” Ms Polden said. “But people in situations that ‘Friends with Dignity’ are supporting, fled from extremely dangerous situations.
“They’ve had to come away from family and friends and they’ve got nothing. They have to pay for the accommodation they are staying in and all their necessities, so there’s not really a lot left over at the end of the day, if anything at all.”
The Toy Drive, which has been running for five years, will have donation drop-off points set up in various locations, including Logan City’s Men’s Shed in Crestmead.
The Australian Men’s Shed Association also provides invaluable resources, specialised services and meeting places for the community.
John ‘Bear’ Hinds, Vice President of Men’s Shed in Crestmead, is encouraging locals to get involved in The Christmas Toy Drive.
“This is the first time we’ve been involved with [the Toy Drive],” Mr Hinds said.
“I think that it’s lovely, because look at how many kids don’t have a Christmas.”
From left to right: Graeme Meacham, John (BEAR) Hinds, Col Jobson.
The support from the Logan City and Scenic Rim community is essential to helping support services like Friends with Dignity and Men’s Shed, Mr Hinds said.
“We support a lot of men’s mental health,” he said. “We have a variety of gentlemen and women who come here.
“There’s blokes who come here that really just want to have a chat.”
In terms of practical support, Men’s Shed’s motto of ‘Men don’t talk face to face, they talk shoulder to shoulder’, encourages hands on wood work as a support service for men, which in turn goes back into the community.
“We do a lot of bird boxes for the community,” Mr Hinds said. “We made up about 20 or 30 bird boxes…a couple of weeks ago, and they just went back into the community for the wildlife.
“We’ve just made bookends for [the childcare centres]. We donated them for Christmas, and we’ve done rocking horses as well for them.
Mr Hinds said that the volunteers at the Men’s Shed see a huge difference in the men that come to the shed searching for help.
“Yes, we do, we really do. We started off with only about four people in the Shed, and I think it’s up to about 63 now.
Mr Hinds also explained that most of the furniture donated to Men’s Shed goes to the Logan City residents through ‘Friends with Dignity’, who then set up places to live for domestic and family violence survivors.
“[The survivors] just leave, and take nothing with them. So, this is where [Friends with Dignity] helps them and puts them into a house, a refuge, and they have to furnish the house for them.”
You can donate to the ‘Friends with Dignity’ Toy Drive, until 7th December.
Logan City and Scenic Rim residents are also encouraged to host a workplace drive to collect toys and gifts. To register, send your interest via email here.
For more information on the Men’s Shed at Crestmead, click here.
