Christmas Cheer returns to bring hope to local families

By Charmayne Allison

Nov 18, 2019

FOR one little Echuca boy, it seemed like last year’s Christmas would never come.

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His mum had been torn from him when she was suddenly, tragically, killed in a car accident.

Not only did the boy’s father have to bury his wife.

Left alone to care for their son, he had no choice but to leave his work and become a full-time dad.

With no income and no savings, Christmas was going to be cancelled in their home, the final blow in a year already marred by heartbreak.

Until the local Salvation Army stepped in.

As part of their annual Christmas Cheer, they invited the dad to choose gifts for his son from a wide range of donated toys.

So Christmas could come after all.

“Somebody had donated this massive present and the dad said ‘oh wow, oh no, we can’t have that’,” Echuca-Moama Salvation Army auxiliary Lieutenant Sonia Edwards remembered.

“I said, ‘why not, you're registered’.

“And he said, ‘oh, thank you so much’ and there were tears rolling down the faces of both the father and the grandmother. It was just beautiful.

“Christmas was going to be cancelled in his household because they had absolutely nothing.

“And that’s the case for so many families in town.”

Christmas Cheer will return for another round this year and the Salvation Army is urging the community to donate toys as they brace for a flood of registrations.

Last year the corp gave toys to a staggering 268 children.

That equates to about 100 families.

And this year is expected to be even bigger.

“We’re going to set up a big shop in the hall and people can make appointments and come in, walk around and select for their kids,” Sonia said.

“It’s like they’re actually out there Christmas shopping.”

Families will be allowed two major toys per child, plus there will be stocking fillers and food vouchers for Christmas lunch.

“Christmas Cheer is something we can do thanks to the generosity of the Echuca-Moama community,” Sonia said.

“We get to see the joy on the faces of the people that are receiving and it’s just spectacular.”

Registrations will be taken at the Salvation Army Hall on Wednesday, November 20 from 10am to 1pm.

Christmas Cheer will be held on December 16, 17 and 18.

Donations for Christmas Cheer can be dropped off at the Riverine Herald, Rich River Golf Club, Century 21 and Ray White.

Desperate Echuca Moama families face no Christmas