We all know Christmas is the meant to be a time of giving, sharing, people coming together with acts of kindness, but here at MSFIN we got to see that Christmas spirit take flight and to say we were overwhelmed is an understatement.
After another challenging year with multiple lockdowns that took their toll on the mental health and finances of many, people still stepped up (and then some) when we put out our annual call on facebook in support of the Reverse Christmas Advent Calendar Hamper Appeal and Christmas Toy Drive. The generosity we witnessed was nothing short of breathtaking…it just kept coming and coming and wrapped not in paper, but in love and community.
We thought asking our community for 650 Christmas hampers to help others in crisis might have been too much, that people had their own needs and families to worry about…but we should have known you better, recognised the size of your hearts. The call went out and was answered, swiftly and decisively, and within 3 days of posting, we had achieved that commitment.
Next to source a venue where the hampers could be delivered and then collected by the respective support agencies to distribute…and Frankston Football Club came to the rescue, offering their club rooms to us for five days without hesitation and ensuring our volunteers were well cared for with cold drinks and extra hands on deck when needed.
When it came time to deliver the hampers, once again our community blew our minds with some of the hampers literally overflowing with food with a hint of Christmas flair. Some people brought extras that their family and friends had collated once they learned what was happening; others rallied their social groups and said yes to 5, 10, 20, even 40 hampers. We were humbled and touched to be supported by such incredible humans.
Riding on the back of the Christmas hampers was the Christmas Toy Drive. Day after day after day, car after car after car, bags of toys were dropped off at MSFIN HQ. We were turning into Santa’s Toy Kingdom. Businesses allowed their staff to go shopping during work hours; cricket clubs rallied the troops; local churches created Blessing bags; others raised money to donate. We were a collective with a singular purpose driving us; to give over 1300 children a Christmas morning they could celebrate…and that’s exactly what we did.
Here at MSFIN we often say it takes a village and that we are only as strong as the community that supports us…this has never been more true than it was in the lead up to Christmas 2021. We worked together to share some love, some Christmas spirit, some festive magic and, in return, were sprinkled in magic of our own.
