Western suburbs resident Margaret-Ann grew up in a community-minded home and still maintains these values through volunteering and participation in community action groups.
A first-time donor to UnitingSA’s 2024 Christmas Appeal, she says it was the Save this Christmas social media campaign that prompted her to donate with a strong call to action.
While Christmas is about family and friends, she says it can also be about excess and loneliness.
“My mother grew up in a tight-knit country town and people helped each other out. Our family was involved in fundraising for the new schools and churches emerging in the new north-eastern suburbs.
“Those nuns were excellent at getting people to help out – they had to be, otherwise nothing would get done!
“In the 1990s I was a local St Vincent de Paul member. This involved visiting people at home who needed food, company, furniture, transport for medical appointments and so on. I’ve always been involved in local community action groups.
“Save Christmas seemed like a practical way to help people participate in the celebration of Christmas, rather than feel even more isolated.
“Like many, I struggle with suggestions when people ask me what I want for Christmas. I don’t want anything, I have too much already. Sometimes I ask for a donation to a charity.”
She says when first volunteering with Vinnies, she met people who were experiencing hunger on a regular basis.
“This was 28 years ago – and now housing affordability and cost of living is much, much more difficult. I can only imagine how great the need is currently. There are people sleeping rough in our suburb, in cars filled with belongings.”