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Christmas Donations: Donate Gifts, Food or Money
Whether you’re an individual, business, or community, you can help vulnerable people and Canberrans in need make their Christmas special, by donating to the Communities at Work Christmas Appeal.
We encourage groups (workplaces, businesses, shops, community groups etc) to host a ‘Giving Tree’ every year i.e. a Christmas drive to raise funds or collect donations of food (non-perishable) and gifts (new items only).
As an individual too, you can donate food, gifts or toys for both adults and children – or even money – to help vulnerable people, by sending your donations directly to Communities at Work.
How can I donate to your Christmas Appeal?
1. Make a Tax-Deductible Donation
Donate money online to our website. We will then use that money to buy gifts and food to stock our ‘Christmas Caves’ for our vulnerable clients. All financial donations for $2 and above are tax-deductible.
CLICK HERE TO MAKE A FINANCIAL DONATION.
2. Host a Virtual Giving Tree
If you would like to organise a drive for online donations, you can place a link or QR code to the Communities at Work’s Donation Portal in an email, newsletter, your website, or your social media. The QR code/link will direct people straight to our donations page and support our Christmas Appeal.
VISIT OUR GIVING TREE TOOLKIT TO ACCESS THE LINK & QR CODE.
3. Host a Traditional Giving Tree
You can set up a traditional giving tree to collect donations of gifts and food at your workplace, shop or community space. Here are some useful resources: Click here to access our giving tree toolkit.
Once your donation drive is complete, please drop off your donations at the Tuggeranong or Gungahlin Community Centres. Don’t forget to register on our Get in Touch page! (Note: current cutoff date is 12 Dec 2022)
Please remember that we are only able to accept non-perishable food and new gifts only (no used/second-hand items) as donations.
Please note:
- Please deliver gifts or food donations to us on or before 12 December to ensure we have enough time to process and display the donations before we close down over Christmas (Friday 23 Dec). (We already have many organisations booked in to drop off donations on 13-16 December so we ask that you can please schedule your drop off for earlier). Many of our clients come in during the first two weeks of December, so delivering your gifts a day or two before we close down means most clients won’t be able to benefit from your donations at Christmas time.
2. As you can imagine, we get very busy with processing incoming donations and may not have available staff and volunteers to collect your donations. We would really appreciate it if you could drop them off to us.
4. Order and Deliver Donations Online
If you would like to donate food or gifts to us directly, you can place an order online through your retailer of choice (please ensure the delivery is Mon-Fri 9 am – 5 pm), and get them to send your donation to: Christmas Appeal, Communities at Work Tuggeranong, 245 Cowlishaw Street, Greenway ACT 2900.
5. Send us a Gift Card
You can send us a gift card which we’ll then pass on to our vulnerable clients. It’s best to buy the gift cards in $20-$30 lots. We always struggle with enough gifts for teenagers and adults – this might be a good solution. The gift card can be physical card or an e-gift card.
Email us an e-gift card at admin@commsatwork.org.
Post us a gift card to Communities at Work, PO Box 1066, Tuggeranong ACT 2901, or
Drop it off at our Tuggeranong or Gungahlin Community Centres.
6. Distribute our Christmas Tree Donation Tags
Display a pile of our Christmas Tree printed tags at your reception area – or hang them on your Giving Tree for people to collect. These tags have a QR code so people can easily donate online to our Appeal.
Contact us and we’ll send you a bundle of tags (phone 6293 6500 or email marketing@commsatwork.org) or download a printable pdf sheet here.
7. Do your Online Shopping through Shopnate
If you like to shop online, then try shopping through Shopnate. Shopnate is Australia’s No. 1 good cause shopping platform. Each time you shop online at hundreds of well-known retailers on the platform, a percentage of everything you spend goes to Communities at Work – at no cost to you. What’s more, Shopnate provides numerous deals and coupons so you get to save as well. A great way to do your online shopping – and do good at the same time. Find out more on the Communities at Work’s Shopnate Page.
8. Use Social Media to Promote Our Christmas Appeal
Promote our Christmas Appeal on your Facebook, Instagram, or other social media pages by sharing the link to our donation page. You can also create a simple video message encouraging your followers to donate. Here’s some suggested wording you can use.
What kind of Christmas donations do you need?
Virtual Christmas donations include monetary donations through our website, e-gift cards, online donation drives through work/community groups, and Shopnate online shopping. We will then use your virtual donations to buy gifts and food for our vulnerable clients.
Gift and Food donations: If you prefer to donate gifts (new gifts only, no second-hand items) and food (non-perishable), here’s a list of suggested items as a guide. You can also download the pdf list here.
Where do I bring my Christmas donations?
You can drop off your donations at the below sites.
- Communities at Work Tuggeranong (Tuggeranong Community Centre), 245 Cowlishaw Street, Greenway (open Mon-Fri, 9 am – 4 pm)
- Communities at Work Gungahlin (Gungahlin Community Centre), 47 Ernest Cavanagh Street, Gungahlin (Mon-Fri, 9 am – 4 pm)
- Communities at Work Weston Creek (172 Dixon Drive, Holder, Mon-Fri 9 am-5 pm)
- Mix 106.3 Canberra’s Pack the Bus Pickup Points for donations (see below for details).
We’ll update the location list as and when other places/organisations/shops begin accepting donations for Communities at Work.
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Mix106.3’s ‘Pack The Bus’
Once again Communities at Work are thrilled to partner with Transport Canberra and MIX106.3 on their ‘Pack the Bus’ fundraising drive, packing a bus with essential food items and toys for kids of families in need.
“Pack the Bus” hits the roads from 28 November – 16 December 2022 and drives around the region to collect much-needed items for those in need. The brightly coloured Transport Canberra bus will be hard to miss!
Santa and his helpers collect donated goods from registered workplaces, retail outlets and schools every weekday over the three-week period between 9 am – 3 pm. The items are dropped off to Communities at Work’s Christmas Caves in Tuggeranong and Gungahlin.
Thanks so much to all the business supporters for getting aboard this amazing initiative. Last year we collected over 6,000 gifts!!! We’re looking forward to doing even more this year!
Frequently Asked Questions: Christmas Donations
If you’re wondering how many people we assist, how donations are accessed, how much food we receive, how many gifts we give out, etc. you can view our frequently asked questions page. If you have further questions or concerns, you can contact us via our Get in Touch page or email us at admin@commsatwork.org.
Download our Christmas Appeal FAQs (FACT SHEET) here.
Year-Round Collection Points for Donations
We also have year-round donation bins collecting non-perishable food at:
- Cooleman Court – near the lift, lower ground floor
- Calwell Shopping Centre
- Gungahlin Marketplace (outside Woolworths)
- Communities at Work Tuggeranong (Tuggeranong Community Centre)
- Communities at Work Gungahlin (Gungahlin Community Centre)
- Communities at Work Weston Creek (172 Dixon Drive)
Please remember that we are only able to accept non-perishable food and new gifts only (no used/second-hand items) as donations.