Grant a Christmas wish

By Ed Merrison
THE Knox community was gifted a golden opportunity to help the needy last week with the launch of the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal.
Knox mayor Jenny Moore officially opened the appeal at Kmart Boronia on Wednesday, 16 November to the cheers of shoppers.
“This is an excellent opportunity for the community to support those who are less fortunate. Last year Boronia donated over 2500 presents, which I take as an indication that community spirit in Knox is alive and well,” Cr Moore said.
Cr Moore said more than 11,000 gifts had been collected from Boronia in the past seven years.
“It’s important that we retain a sense of how lucky we are and ensure that others are as blessed as we are,” she said.
Also present at the launch were children from the Boronia Primary School choir and students from Boronia Heights Secondary College, who spread the festive spirit with Christmas songs and carols.
The Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal is Australia’s largest Christmas gift appeal, having distributed more than 2.95 million gifts in the past 17 years.
Local residents are invited to contribute to what appeal organisers hope will be a tally of more than 450,000 gifts this year.
To participate, the public is invited to take a gift donation and place it under the tree located at the front of the Boronia store.
The donor matches the gift with a tag from the tree, which identifies the age and gender of a suitable recipient.
The gifts need not be purchased at Kmart, with the store acting as a facilitator for welfare groups such as The Salvation Army, The Smith Family, The Brotherhood of St Lawrence and Charity Link.
The welfare groups then collect donated gifts each week and distribute them in the region in which they were donated.
The community can make a difference to people in need by granting a Christmas wish at Boronia’s wishing tree up to Christmas Eve.