Australia: Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal

Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal – Everyone Deserves a Good Time This Christmas
Helping families in need this Christmas.

Website: http://www.kmart.com.au/community/wishingtree/default.asp

How does it work?

Australia’s largest Christmas gift appeal, the Kmart Wishing Tree, celebrates its twenty first year this Christmas.

Established by Kmart, the Wishing Tree supports some of Australia’s largest welfare organisations - The Salvation Army, The Smith Family (NSW, Vic and WA), The Brotherhood of St Laurence (Vic) and Charity Link (a group of charities in Western Australia.

Since its inception, the appeal has distributed more than 4.14 million gifts over the past 20 years. This year the appeal aims to collect over 350,000 gifts for people in need.

Now an Australian Christmas tradition, the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal is heavily relied upon by welfare groups to service the needs of their clients at Christmas time. So please help share the spirit of Christmas with someone in need because everyone deserves to have a good time at Christmas!

The 2008 Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal will run from 14 November until Christmas Eve.
Giving Is Easy...

Place a gift under the Kmart Wishing Tree
To participate in the appeal simply place a gift under the Christmas Wishing Tree located at the front of any Kmart store. Take a gift tag from the tree that identifies the age and gender of a suitable recipient and place it with your gift. Welfare groups associated with the appeal collect the donated gifts each week from Kmart stores and distribute them to people in need.

Or make a cash contribution
As an alternative to donating a gift, people can make a cash contribution at any Kmart store register. One hundred per cent of cash contributions are converted by Kmart into Kmart gift cards at the request of our charity partner. These gift cards are then distributed to people in need by the associated welfare groups, allowing appeal recipients to choose their own Christmas gift.

Get your school or workplace involved
Gifts do not need to be purchased at Kmart. Encourage a collection at your school or workplace and then take the gifts into your local Kmart store. It is a great exercise in giving and helping others at Christmas time.

Gift in lieu
Why not give a gift to the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal on behalf of a loved one. Instead of buying a gift for someone place a gift under the Wishing Tree. Remember to take a thank you card and hand that over instead of a gift so that that they can share in your good deed.

UK: Salvation Army Christmas Present Appeal 2008

Website: Click here

How does it work?

From Friday 21 November until Friday 19 December members of the public across the country are invited and encouraged to donate gifts for children aged 0-16. The gifts will be then be distributed to needy children and their families in the local area through The Salvation Army's own networks, health visitors and social services.

New, unwrapped gifts may be dropped off in collection bins in any Superdrug store (find your nearest Superdrug store) or other local designated Salvation Army collection points (use post code search), from where a team of volunteers from The Salvation Army will collect the toys and take them to the local church or headquarters where they will be wrapped by members who will ensure it reaches a needy child or teenager in time for Christmas.

Suggested gifts for children/young pople

0-3 years: soft toys, educational toys - colourful and fun, cot mobiles etc, items of clothing (baby grows etc), bath toys, CDs with suitable music and nursery rhymes.

3-5: toys - dolls, cars, lorries, soft toys (suitable for boys and girls); educational games and toys (colourful and fun), books, CDs (music and nursery rhymes) DVDs and videos suitable for that age group, colouring sets, pencils, crayons, books, jigsaw puzzles

5-9: toys, educational games and toys, stationery (colouring sets, pencils, crayons, school sets) CDs and family friendly DVDs and videos, books, jigsaw puzzles, wordsearch, crosswords,

9-12: suitable games and toys, stationery, CDs, DVDs and videos, books, items of clothing including tee-shirts, hair ornaments (for girls!), gloves, scarves, hats

13-17: CDs, DVDs and videos, books, toiletries (please try to ensure non-allergic ingredients if possible), gloves, scarves, hats

UK: The Rotary Club Shoebox Scheme Rotary Club International’s Shobox Scheme (year round)…

UK: The Rotary Club Shoebox Scheme Rotary Club International’s Shobox Scheme (year round)…

Website: http://www.rotary1280.org/shoebox/

How does it work?

Rotary, Inner Wheel, Rotaract, Rotaserve and Interact Clubs purchase the special boxes from the Rotary Trustees (a small group of Rotarians who administer the scheme). The boxes are sent ‘flat packed’ to the Club. It is then up to the club as to where to send the boxes for filling. Often local schools, children’s uniformed organizations, church groups, elderly peoples homes, friends, relatives, etc., are the ones who enthusiastically fill the boxes.

The person filling the box, sellotapes a £1 coin to the top of the box. This is then retrieved by the local Club who, by this means, hopefully balance their books. The initial money retained by the Trustees is used mainly for transport costs to Eastern & Central Europe and for manufacturing the boxes.

The filled boxes are then returned to the central warehouse and for subsequent delivery to Eastern Europe.

Once delivered, distribution is overseen by Rotary Clubs, Spurgeons Child Care, Hope & Homes or the contacts of International Aid Trust, so ensuring that your gifts go to those most in need.