What started as a casual Facebook challenge to friends by Dannielle Hare has ended in hundreds of strangers donating a mountain of food to charities in the Illawarra.
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"Originally I created an event seeking donations from friends and I thought we would get 20 people but in the end we had hundreds of people that I'd never met dropping off donations," she said.
"We had enough to fill a four-wheel-drive three separate times which we took to Anglicare, CHAIN [Community Health for Adolescents In Need] and the Homeless Hub."
Manager of Anglicare Wollongong's emergency relief program Debbie Maygar was happy with the early Christmas present at a time when her organisation was stretched to the limit.
"At Christmas time we have the added pressure of providing enough food so people can celebrate; our books are full and this year is worse than usual," she said.
"Those donations have already gone out to families and it's great for them to know that people in the community care about them at this time."
Ms Maygar said it was important for children from poor families to also be happy at Christmas.
"It's important these families have things like lollies and chocolates so children can have those special times and they can feel like every other normal family on Christmas," she said.
Ms Hare knows all too well the financial burdens of Christmas.
"I'm a mother of four with one on the way and we've had our struggles, we've always had food and a roof over our head but I wanted my children to understand others aren't so lucky," she said.
Ms Hare was overwhelmed by the response to her Illawarra 15 Can challenge event.
"We didn't have a loungeroom for a while because it was full of donations," Ms Hare said.
"I think so many people got involved because that's what the Illawarra does."
Anglicare Wollongong still requires food donations for families in need this Christmas.
"We're running low on food and we particularly need things like breakfast cereals, milk and Christmas treats like ham, vegetables, fruit cake and custard," Ms Maygar said.
Donations can be made to Anglicare's office at 152 Keira Street, Wollongong.