The Smith Family will donate Christmas toy and book packs to 380 Dubbo children who belong to its programs.

Launching its annual Christmas Appeal to help thousands of disadvantaged children with their schooling, the charity said it was a key time to help families doing it tough.

“Christmas should be a special time for families but for children living in poverty, it’s just another time they go without,” The Smith Family NSW/ACT General Manager Steve Macready said.

READ ALSO:

“Right now, there are 1.1 million young Australians growing up in poverty. Many are struggling daily with the effects of financial hardship brought on by accidents, illness or unemployment within the family.

They aim to raise $3.8 million nationally to help more than 9000 children with learning support and mentoring programs to help them catch up and keep up at school.

In NSW they aim to raise $1.5m which equates to helping more than 3700 students.

ALSO MAKING NEWS:

This is why The Smith Family is also calling on the community to donate new toys and books for 25,000 children on its sponsorship program, which will be delivered with the help of hundreds of volunteers in the lead-up to Christmas.

In NSW 3406 will be visited in December with 7366 children getting gift packs. In total there will be more than 22,000 toys and 14,500 books handed out across the state.

“The Smith Family has its roots in Christmas giving and while the focus of our work has evolved to helping young people break the cycle of poverty through support for their education, we are proud to continue the tradition of delivering toys and books to children in need at Christmas,” Mr Macready said.