Ethan Pandy places a gift under the tree. 40036 Picture: Luke Plummer
YMCA Cardinia LiFE has joined the Operation Christmas Cheer 2009 campaign to help provide gifts for remote indigenous communities in western Victoria.
The annual project involving the YMCA, in partnership with Victoria Police and the Western Indigenous Gathering Place, aims to stimulate community involvement in the true spirit of Christmas.
Gifts will be donated, wrapped in shoeboxes and left under a Christmas tree in the entry area of YMCA Cardinia LiFE.
They will then be sent to a central collection point before being distributed to the designated communities before Christmas Day.
Melanie Overdyk, YMCA-Cardinia LiFE Community and Families Co-ordinator, said that it was a great opportunity for people in the local community to become involved in the spirit of Christmas.
“We invite members and guests to help us help others who don’t have much to look forward to at Christmas time,” she said.
“Gifts can be wrapped in a shoebox and dropped off at our tree at Cardinia LiFE before Christmas, and they will be forwarded to our distribution point.”
YMCA staff and volunteers together with police representatives and the Western Suburbs Indigenous Gathering Place will deliver the gifts in the week leading up to Christmas.
