Christmas time in Eaglehawk is an opportunity for people in our community to help others that might need extra assistance during Christmas time by donating food, toys and other items.
Things, sometimes in form of hampers, are sorted out and given to people leading up to Christmas by various church, community and school groups because Christmas is a special time when all people should have the opportunity to receive gifts. For many years churches, schools and other organizations around Eaglehawk like the Bendigo Baptist Church, Eaglehawk Presbyterian Church, Eaglehawk Community House, Op shops, Eaglehawk Secondary College, St Liborious and generous people around our community have been providing food, toiletries and many gifts to all ages to make Christmas more enjoyable!
The Eaglehawk Community House holds a Christmas gathering, anyone in the community can come to the lunch on the Tuesday before Christmas, at noon. The Community House also do activities such as making Christmas decorations, they put them up around the community house so it creates that Christmas feeling.
Bendigo Baptist Church Eaglehawk Campus has been helping for seven years in the following ways: They collect donations and sort them into hampers; They make sure they give everyone in the family something for Christmas; Life Essentials Op Shop in Hargreaves St co-ordinate the hampers, in partnership with Bendigo Baptist Church in Eaglehawk and Junortoun. Goods are donated through the op-shop, as well at Bendigo Baptist Church in Eaglehawk and Junortoun. Generous donations of toys and food also come from local schools (Eaglehawk Secondary College, Girton Grammar School and Camp Hill Primary) and other generous people in our community.; It’s a good opportunity to be involved with helping support people at Christmas time that may need extra help. Christmas is a celebration of a Birthday, Jesus, and ultimately all about ‘life’. We are inspired to be generous and to love all people so they can more and more experience the fullness of what life offers.
Eaglehawk Presbyterian Church helps not only local people but those less fortunate in other countries. Every year during their Christmas Day service they (along with all other Presbyterian churches in Victoria) have a special offering, where those who would like to can donate. This year they’ll be donating to provide a well that will give clean water to the Saweted community in Ethiopia, and also to help fund a translation of the Bible into Tetun, the language of Timor Leste. Water is vital for life, and so we’ll be providing both physical water and what Jesus called ‘living water,’ which is the message about Jesus in the Bible.
At St Liborious Primary School students held a casusal clothes day and asked for donations with all proceeds and goods being given to St Vinnies Christmas Appeal.
Some teachers from ESC collected bags for the #itsinthebag drive organised by Share The Dignity which gives bags full of sanitary products and health/beauty items to women experiencing homelessness or taking shelter from unsafe environments.
Anyone can be involved in giving at Christmas – just look out for a giving tree or charity drive and spread a little joy.