The most vulnerable people in our community won’t miss out on Christmas cheer thanks to the WestCare Christmas Appeal.
The locally based registered charity is handing out Christmas hampers to ensure the financial and emotional burdens of the festive season won’t impact struggling families and individuals.
WestCare Community Services Director Andrew Paech is going into his 11th Christmas Appeal, and he said there’s nothing else like it.
“This year we’re aiming to reach 1,000 homes, plus the homeless, plus the hurting,” Paech explained.
“We have a lot of friends that support what we do, friends that work in the community, and we leverage many of these relationships with different organisations to find their most vulnerable clients.”
A handful of the relationships WestCare maintains is with local schools, the Road Trauma Support Group, the local domestic violence network, and the Homicide Victims Support Group.
This all stems from a time when the Paech family received their own WestCare Christmas hamper.
“Many years ago my daughter was sick, she had a very serious brain cancer, and it wasn’t looking pretty as we were just coming into Christmas, and believe it or not, we received a WestCare Christmas hamper!” Paech exclaimed.
“Let me tell you, an absolute priority of ours is to reach similar families in that kind of situation.”
According to Paech, cost-of-living pressures is having a big impact on locals this year – more than ever before.
“We distribute a lot of food hampers and we’ve got a lot of toys, I’ve never had so many toys coming our way,” Paech said.
“We’ve got people in schools, in workplaces, different organisations doing collections on behalf of our WestCare Appeal… like a community web.”
These donations and community spirit are what makes the Christmas Appeal possible.
“Penrith has an exceptionally wonderful community,” Paech said.
“I know we’re all in western Sydney, but I guarantee you, you won’t find this in Parramatta, Bankstown, Liverpool, Campbelltown, let alone anywhere else.”
The WestCare depot is full to the brim, and it will be a non-stop operation all the way up until Santa takes over on December 25.
Ally Hall
Ally Hall joined the Weekender in 2024, and focuses on entertainment and community stories. She's a graduate of the University of South Australia and has previously worked as a Video Journalist with Southern Cross Austereo and as a News Reader with Australian Radio Network.