Local Sydney hero Kirsty Parkes was left heartbroken when she found out thieves had stolen the new toys that volunteers had bought struggling families for Christmas.

“We need your help,” a devastated Kirsty appealed on Facebook after her Community Cafe Outreach Service was ransacked, breaking down in tears as she revealed brand new toys worth $5000 were stolen in the raid.

“The families we serve here are the most poverty stricken in Australia. These kids don’t know what it’s like to open something brand new and be given something of significance. It’s kind of hard to take at this time of the year.”

The plight of the children and families from Kirsty’s beloved Liverpool area in Western Sydney touched many, including Angela Cerasani from BIG W who enlisted the help of the team at Woolworths Group.

“Watching Kirsty’s heartbreaking video really did tug at my heartstrings,” says Angela, who is BIG W’s product quality support specialist and has an eight-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son of her own.

She immediately swung into action and asked each commercial team what they could donate, and BIG W was able to donate $3000 worth of new toys and an additional $15,000 worth of clothes and homewares.

“It’s all about supporting the local community. It absolutely made me feel good and made me think this is what life is all about,helping one another and showing gratitude and kindness. 

“Kirsty does all this out of the goodness of her heart and she’s just an amazing human.”
 

The 45-year-old mum of seven children, who gave up her own flourishing baking business to start her own charity in one of the most poverty-stricken places in Australia, says BIG W literally saved Christmas.

“We are now so ridiculously good that we are doing, for the first time ever, toy hampers for families,” says Kirsty

“We have 12 families that we’ve been able to secure Christmas trees for, as well as tinsel and decorations, and we’re taking down their kids’ details. Twelve families will now have their own special Christmas Day.”
 

Since Kirsty started Community Cafe Incorporated four years ago, where she handed out food from a van in her front yard, the charity has helped thousands of struggling families.

The Christmas lunch Kirsty and her small team of volunteers put on every year has grown from 60 people (those who attended the first one in her front yard) to almost 600 families, and they will get to experience a festive feast cooked with love this year.

Woolworths Group has happily helped Kirsty provide the wonderful Christmas banquet, plus 600 frozen dinners and the many groceries that families “shop” for at her Community Cafe each week.

“Woolies was a game changer for us as an organisation,” says Kirsty, who adds that 90 per cent of the fresh food and vegetables and assorted grocery items she stocks in the cafe come from seven different Woolworths stores in the area.

The families who come to her don’t have to pay for any of the goods, with Kirsty explaining “their currency is kindness” and that she and the other volunteers use inclusive language to help people feel dignified and respected.

“People get to come in and fill up a bag with what they eat. You can take any of the fruit and vegies that you like to eat. You can choose bread from the bread aisle, then you can go to the counter and get any items from the fridge,” she says. “We thank them for shopping with us.”

This “game-changing” partnership with Woolworths Group came about two years ago after Brad Glasspole, who is store manager at Woolworths in Miller, heard about the great work Kirsty was doing and decided he had to help.

“It’s so rewarding to be a part of it, and to be able to give back and show what good looks like in terms of what community is,” he says, adding that the concept supported the Woolworths Group’s aim to have zero food waste by 2025. “Our support of the Community Cafe is just about bringing that community together.”

Brad and Kirsty both say the festive season is their favourite time of the year, and the donations from Woolworths Group has helped Kirsty’s Christmas wish come true.