Christmas and the festive season should be a time of joy and celebration. But for too many, it can be an incredibly difficult time of year.
It’s a time when gift-giving often takes up a huge chunk of people’s discretionary spending; not the best news for charities, which have already taken a hit during the cost-of-living crisis. According to by the University of Queensland, 78 per cent of Australians have reduced how much they are donating to welfare organisations.
But it's also a time for giving back — in fact,there are few better ways to get into the true spirit of Christmas than charity gifts.
There's no lack of food-focused organisations making great impact in Australia. Whether you want to donate cash, time or buy a charity Christmas gift, here area few non-profits doing great work that you could get involved with.
This national not-for-profit is dedicated to tackling hunger by distributing food hampers (of non-perishable items) to disadvantaged Australians – via a whopping 2400-odd other charities. In 2023, Food Bank provided over 81 million meals to people in need.
The organisation also runs school meal clubs, providing nutritious breakfasts and lunches to children who don’t have access to them. Got some time to spare? You can get involved with packing food hampers by signing up as an individual, with your family, friends or colleagues. Or, you can also help set up a meal club at your local school.
Getting kids involved in volunteering is a great way to teach them the importance of giving back. Credit: fstop123/Getty Images
Offering a similar service on a micro level, this community-led non-profit also delivers food to those who need the help within Sydney's inner west area. Fresh meals, plus groceries, are delivered twice weekly, in this entirely volunteer-run operation. Plus, they also organise social cooking nights, school programs and other community activities — all designed to help alleviate loneliness through the medium of food.
Volunteers can sign up to help out with cooking or delivering, and for the time-poor, charity donations are also welcomed.
This Melbourne-based not-for-profit runs cooking classes powered by refugees and people seeking asylum. People can sign up for a class of their choice, where they’ll cook as a group while the cooking instructor shares insights and stories from their home country.
There are currently 12 classes on rotation, including learning how to cook Ukrainian food with Oksana and Syrian dishes with Bahaa. At the end of class, attendees break bread and enjoy the dishes they've helped cook. Simply attending a class helps support Free to Feed’s instructors through paid work and professional development opportunities. Gift vouchers for classes are also available.
If you're looking for charity Christmas gift ideas, look no further than this social enterprise. Mettle is a gift delivery service that employs women escaping domestic and family violence, helping them build the skills, confidence and financial security, while providing safe and stable housing.
Employees put together beautifully curated gift boxes – many of them food-focused – full of sustainable goodies, which you can add to your shopping list for loved ones. Options for food lovers include a picnic box, a wine and nibbles box and a gin gift box.
Blending technology with charity, this community-based app aggregates opportunities to volunteer, aiming to make it as easy as possible to give back. It asks people to create a profile, including their interests and skills. Alongside signing up for the volunteering opportunities on the app, members can also put out a general offer to help at any time.
Many of the charities on the platform are centred around food, such as Kids Giving Back, which runs programs encouraging youngsters to cook meals for people in need during school holidays. Another is Pocket City Farms, an urban city farm in Sydney's Camperdown, helping bring fair access to food in the area. People can volunteer to garden while learning about regenerative agriculture, waste reduction and water-saving techniques.
The charities on the app are currently New South Wales-focused but is growing nationally.
Pocket City Farms, a non-profit which aims to tackle food insecurity, is one of the charities available for volunteering opportunities on the One Another app. Credit: Supplied
This not-for-profit gathers fresh food from farmers, supermarkets, wholesalers, caterers and more sources around the country around the country and redistributes it to community food programs that support disadvantaged people. It helps close the gap between people facing hunger and food waste, which is too big of an issue in Australia, with. Prioritising nutrition and collecting fresh food, Second Bite is committed to ensuring 75 per cent of the food it collects is fruit and vegetables.
You can volunteer by collecting surplus food from your local markets and/or delivering food to local food programs. You can also donate to SecondBite, whose annual report states for every $1 donated, it rescues food for up to five meals. And for Christmas, every dollar donated will be doubled by the charity to help families in need.
