‘Can’t afford Christmas’: Qld families struggling for food and gifts

Services providing Christmas Day lunches to those in need are expecting to be inundated with many requiring food for the holiday for the first time ever.

Cam Christie, Susie Longman, Sam O’Connor and Byron Christie at Labrador State School. Over 150 volunteers donate their time on Christmas Day.

Services providing Christmas Day lunches to those in need say they are expecting to be slammed this year with people most likely going there for the first time in their lives.

Gold Coast Community Christmas Lunch organiser Susie Longman said they were expecting more than 1200 people at the event at Labrador State School which is more than usual.

“The reason I know we’re going to have more this year is that the requests have started coming earlier,” Ms Longman said.

“I’ve got families contacting me saying, ‘hey, I can afford to feed my family but I can’t afford for Santa to come’,” she said.

“Or they say, ‘Can you help us with a meal and can you help us with gifts?’, so, you know, it’s tough and I think there are more people sleeping rough as well.

“I know that some of our regulars who have been with us every year, you know, were housed and now they’re not. And you know, they’re living in cars and vans and tents.”

Ms Longman said they have 170 volunteers on Christmas and 80 on Christmas Eve.

Susie Longman and Cam Christie, at Sam O'Connor's office in Labrador, sorting through donated goodies for the annual Gold Coast Community Christmas lunch. Picture Glenn Hampson

Emmanuel City Mission will also hold a Christmas Day lunch and are also expecting more than last year given the demand they have had in the recent months.

Emmanuel City Mission director Roby Curtis said they have been getting about 150 people a day using their food services, hygiene services, clothing and better.

“With the way things are, we would imagine that it will be a busy Christmas morning,” Mr Curtis said.

“However, because we’re here in the Christmas period daily we anticipate in seeing a fairly consistent Christmas period so far.”

Mr Curtis said there were a lot of new faces coming.

“Some of those people are experiencing this for the first time. It’s their first time in a season of homelessness,” he said.

“There’ll be people who this will be their first Christmas in this position.”

On Wednesday Emmanuel City Mission will light up their Christmas tree and decorate it with people in need to give them a sense of community and family.

Salvation Army spokesman Simon Gregory said there had been a lot of demand for the Christmas lunches they are doing before the actual day on both the 16th and 20th of December.

“(The one on December 16) that’s already filled up, which usually by now, we’re still trying to find a few people and we’ve got some spare tables and that sort of stuff,” Mr Gregory said.

“Whereas we’re fully subscribed already for that. So that I guess is showing that there’s an increased need and that people are coming to us early.”

Mr Gregory said the services where they provide meals in the lead up had also filled up.

While domestic and family violence charity RizeUP Australia chief executive Nicolle Edwards said last year they distributed 22,000 gifts around Queensland but this year there were going to be more than 25,000 needed.

“The services are really leaning in and requesting lots of different types of support as well. So it’s not just gifts that we’re noticing this year. It’s also food. You know, services are really buckling the demand of just meeting you know, people’s everyday needs, you know, making sure there’s enough good over Christmas,” she said.