The Kids in Care charity, now in its 10th year, handed over hundreds of toys to ACT Policing on Friday to ensure Canberra’s most vulnerable kids would all receive gifts on Christmas Day.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Alex Uren, Kids in Care chairperson, said the annual toy handover was bittersweet.
“We are so proud to be able to ensure vulnerable kids in our community receive gifts this Christmas – just like other ACT children.
“But it also is a stark reminder that there are many kids who have experienced trauma, don’t have stable home arrangements, and are in care at Christmas and throughout the year.
“Kids in Care will continue to support these children with gifts and Go-Bags [for children put into last minute emergency or foster care] to make their lives just that little bit happier.
“We would like to thank everyone who has donated gifts to date and those that are yet to do so. All donations are gratefully received before Christmas and during the year.”
Kids in Care was established in 2013 after Detective Sergeant John Giles attended a job at Christmas time and found four small children who had been neglected.
“The little girl asked John if she could take him inside and show her his Christmas tree, which she described as beautiful,” DLSC Uren said in a previous year. “She took him by the hand, and inside they went. And what he saw inside was basically a tattered branch with one or two baubles attached. He was mortified, and he knew those children were not going to experience Christmas like most kids should and every kid should be able to.
“So, from that day, he went back to the station and raised some money, and was able to get Christmas presents for those kids that year. In speaking with the Child and Youth Protection Services, he realised that there were many more kids in the same position who also wouldn’t experience Christmas.”
So the following year, Sgt Giles raised funds, and organised donations of toys to make sure they would receive gifts on Christmas morning.
Made a charity in 2016, Kids in Care has grown to a point where it now supplies gifts to all children supported by ACT Child and Youth Protection Services and regionally through NSW Department of Community and Justice, not only at Christmas but throughout the year.
“Since 2013, Kids in Care has been able to brighten the Christmas of thousands children across the Canberra region,” DLSC Uren said. “We can’t do this important work without the generosity of local businesses and Canberrans – so to all our supporters we say thank you.”
