NDCAS Community Christmas Drive a huge success

With Christmas well and truly over, Narrabri and District Community Aid Service (NDCAS) are looking back on the remarkable efforts of the community from the Christmas Drive that took place at the end of last year.

NDCAS community engagement and communications coordinator Kayla Nehrkorn describes it as a huge success and the team at NDCAS are very happy with the end results.

“We supported around 330 individuals, equating to 110 families,” Kayla said.

As well as children and teenagers, categories of gift giving were also available for adults.

“I think everyone deserves something, we know that a lot of parents sacrifice a lot for their kids, so we made sure to include adults in this initiative…,” Kayla said.

“This initiative was important to us as we would notice the flow on effect of people putting things on pause in that Christmas period.

“All of the support from local businesses really showed how much people want to get behind those in need in the community.”

Wrapping Day: Lindsey Duncan, Kim Mason, Sam Dearden, Christina Brooks, Julie Herbert, Mandy McFarland, Kelly Herden, Joan Griffiths and Lindy Shields.

Kayla was also amazed at the high amount of generosity when picking up bags of gifts from the 10 drop off points at local shops around Narrabri and Wee Waa. It was recorded that close to 500 gifts were donated in total.

Community services, business and organisations were invited to help wrap the Christmas gifts on December 10. This was a wonderful opportunity for the community to see the extent of the project.

“It’s not any easy task to wrap Christmas gifts for over 300 people but the team of 12 enabled this to be “wrapped” up in a couple of hours,” Kayla said. “I think this event really highlighted who we are and what we do.

“We are thinking it will become a bigger and better thing every year for the community.”

Throughout this period, NDCAS did receive generous amounts in grants and funding from local businesses.

Honourable mentions go to Narrabri Shire Council and Santos for their generosity.

When accepting a Community Financial Assistance Grant from Narrabri Shire council, Kayla Nehrkorn read the below speech to assembled councillors, council staff and guests:

Good morning, Narrabri Shire council and community members,

My name is Kayla, and I am delighted to support the community by facilitating local events within the shire to build social participation and a sense of belonging.

In particular the event which brings Narrabri & District Community Aid Service here today is the Community Christmas Drive.

This Christmas, 326 individuals will find a gift waiting for them under the tree.

Imagine putting yourself at risk of homelessness because you wanted to make sure that your children would have a gift under the tree and a lovely meal on Christmas Day.

This journey began in January 2024 when families where accessing our service requiring support for their rent, electricity and food. Families needed our help as they had put their essential costs of living on hold, all so they could provide their loved ones with a Christmas they have always dreamed of.

As we are a not for profit community organisation, we often receive Christmas donations from groups, clubs, individuals and businesses early to mid December.

Although we were grateful for these donations, it is often a rush for NDCAS staff to sort, wrap and distribute these gifts in the last operational week of the year, while also trying to finish up loose ends.

To make the most of the communities generosity and take the pressure off some other community organisations NDCAS formed a Christmas Committee, consisting of five staff.

Our roles have consisted of weekly meetings, creating letters, referral forms-along with terms and conditions, designing advertising, consulting with our website designers, door to door letter drops to many businesses in Narrabri and Wee Waa, communicating with external service providers, distributing flyers, requesting donations. Not to mention weekly donation collections from our 10 drop off locations.

Community services similar to NDCAS which support families and individuals within the Narrabri LGA were encouraged to refer clients to the Christmas Drive.

These services include those who specialise in support for youth, single/sole parents, young families, blended families, those experiencing or experienced domestic family violence, at risk of homelessness or those who are facing homelessness. Amongst the nine referring organisations, a total 105 families were referred to receive Christmas gifts.

Once final gift donations were collected on December 6, the team got to work. Personally, picking individuals gifts, trying our best to select items on their wish list and match their interests.

Community organisations, businesses and groups were invited to join in the festivities and help wrap and all the gifts. This smooth operation consisted of 12 people offering what they could during their busy work days to give back to the community.

The community’s response has been truly amazing, not only in the volume of donations received, including gifts and gift cards, but also in the engagement on social media. One notable instance involved a Wee Waa community member asking, “looking to donate Christmas gifts to people in need. Who can I give these too?” Many comments included people sharing our website link, screenshots of our Facebook promotions, and details about our drop off points.

This was a heartening indication that our message was resonating positively within the community. This is an example of how the kind donation from the Narrabri Shire grant has supported us to ensure the message was loud and clear.

NDCAS and the community were successfully able to support 330 people, which is 106 families.

When we handed families their Christmas gifts many were so overcome with emotion and shed tears of joy. This was truly a relief for families at this time of year.

Narrabri & District Community Aid Service would like to again thank Narrabri Shire Council for choosing us as a recipient of the Community Assistance grant. This has aided us to provide effective support to those in need during this festive season.