You can make a difference this Christmas for someone doing it tough.
Your donation will help us achieve our goal, to be able to send 1000 Mum and Bub Bags and 1000 Teen bags to women and girls doing it tough this Christmas. We are usually overwhelmed with the number of bags for Adults which we collect, but unfortunately, there is usually a shortfall of Teen Bags and Mum and Bub bags, which is why our options for sponsoring a bag are focused around these two options. You can still donate Adult bags at one of the collection points across Australia.
Please help us this year try to fill the gaps and ensure that no women or girl goes without the very basic essentials of life this Christmas.
Number of sponsored bags
Christmas is a time for love, spreading the holiday cheer, and enjoying the smaller things in life, like taking a break from what's been a busy year, and making happy memories with your family...
But unfortunately, this isn’t the case for everyone. For some Christmas time looks very different...
For some COVID has forced them into financial hardship, living under the poverty line or for some homeless.
For some this won't be their first Christmas alone, or on the streets with nowhere to turn.
For some this will be their first Christmas with a baby. Alone with no funds or loved ones to support them.
It's more than a bag. Sprinkle some love this Christmas
134,000
Women and girls have recieved an #ItsInTheBag Donation in 2019
165,000
#ItsInTheBag Donations were requested from charities in 2019
517,000
Women and girls have received an #ItsInTheBag Donation since 2015
Your donation will give the gift of love this Christmas to people like Anna.
A mother in her thirties, (let’s call her Anna) contacted Share the Dignity to thank us so much for the kind gift herself and her teenage daughter had received. She and her 13-year-old daughter received an #itsinthebag Christmas appeal donation.
Anna had been living in a car for 8 months with her 4 children ages 2, 5, 10, and 13 years old. She told us about her 13-year-old daughter who had attempted suicide because she had been sexually abused by a family member and had been living in the destruction of Family violence.
After falling behind in rent they were evicted from their home. Alone and with nowhere to turn, Anna had no option but to make the decision to live in the car to ensure their safety.
Life is difficult for Anna but she ensures the kids go to school and is trying to keep their family together.
"I knew there would be gifts for the little ones at Christmas time, but when my daughter and I received a bag each filled to the brim I could do nothing but cry at the look on my daughter's face. She felt like everyone should feel... special."
"I can’t thank you enough for the sunshine you bought to our Christmas Day and beyond. You made our family feel loved.”
What does living in poverty mean?
It is unbearable to think that Aussies are living without the basic needs of life. This means not enough food, for themselves and their family, in some cases no roof over their head and no money to pay for clothing, education, or health and medical expenses. It is recorded that over 3.2million Aussies are living below the poverty line and in 2019 173,000 women turned to the homelessness services. A number expected to increase because of the impacts of COVID-19.
ON ANY GIVEN NIGHT
48,720 Women
44,000 Children
ARE HOMELESS IN AUSTRALIA
