Anglicare’s emergency relief services in Canberra rely on community donations of food and toys, but due to COVID-19 restrictions are now experiencing both a fall in donations and an increase in demand from growing numbers of vulnerable families. By donating to our Virtual Giving Tree you can help our team purchase toys for our Anglicare Present Rooms which provide dignity to parents experiencing hardship because they can select the gifts for their children.

While we are still accepting donations in person, we have wanted to create a way to give that is more accessible and that accommodates all COVID safety measures.

Our Virtual Giving Tree means that you don’t have to shop for toys or deliver them to an Anglicare service. You simply select the toy category you would like to give and a dollar amount that you would like to contribute! For example you might want to purchase ‘Sports Gear’ as a gift and contribute $50 towards that gift.

The Anglicare team will then purchase $50 worth of sports gear on your behalf which will go to an Anglicare Present Room. When parents who are facing hardship visit our emergency food relief services, they can access the Present Room to choose Christmas gifts for their child – all thanks to your generosity!

If you don’t have a preference of which toy category, you can select the option ‘Where Most Needed’.

That will enable our team to use your contribution to buy gifts that are most needed! We often find that we don’t have enough gifts for older children so any contribution toward ‘Where Most Needed’ will be greatly appreciated.

Our two main Present Rooms are located at Gordon Community Centre and St Johns Care in Reid. Clients are able to select the presents themselves which gives them dignity in a situation which can often bring a lot of shame. We know that having gifts personally selected for children helps bring lots of smiles on Christmas Day.

We are incredibly grateful for every donation we receive! However we do find that we receive many donations for young children than we need but older children and teenagers are often forgotten. We kindly ask that you consider providing a gift to an older child to help us make a difference this Christmas.

Of course! We are incredibly grateful for every donation we receive! By selecting ‘where most needed’ in the gift category, you can help us make sure we have exactly what we need to ensure every child gets a gift they’ll love this Christmas!

We would love to have your workplace, school or church involved! Simply email donations@anglicare.com.au and we will supply you with posters, flyers and more to help you make a real difference to Canberra families this Christmas.

Have questions about the Anglicare Virtual Giving Tree? Email our team at donations@anglicare.com.au and we’ll help answer any questions you have.