It starts around March each year.
Members of GV Woodworkers work throughout the year crafting wooden toys for the holidays that go to families in need.
There are monthly working bees, but members often work on toys outside those events.
“A lot of the members will start on a particular toy, and then they’ll take it home, finish it, paint it, bring it back, and then the next thing they’re looking for their next one,” GV Woodworkers events co-ordinator Len Taylor said.
“We just feel that there’s demand in the community, and we try to meet that demand.”
The group has been making toys to donate during the festive season for decades, and people loved making them, Mr Taylor said.
“The whole club gets involved,” he said.
The hard work culminated this year with more than 120 toys being delivered to FamilyCare in Shepparton.
FamilyCare works with families involved with child and family services, and also provides carer and disability support.
The organisation has been receiving toys from GV Woodworkers for over a decade.
The toys go to kids in families that FamilyCare works with throughout the year, and there are many different kinds to match different ages and interests.
“We’ve got the cricket bats and the stumps, we’ve got trucks, we’ve got ducks on wheels, we’ve got dogs on wheels, we’ve got helicopters,” GV Woodworkers toy co-ordinator Shelley Wyllie said.
There are also itms such as toolboxes, jewellery boxes and skipping ropes.
“We try to put them in bright colours for the younger kids,” Ms Wyllie said.
Making the toys was not just good for the community, it was good for those who were learning about woodworking, Ms Wyllie said.
“It’s also, for new members, giving them new skills,” she said.
“Each of these (toys) take a different skill, and so people that want to come and learn, they can learn and obviously give to the community at the same time.”
Ms Wyllie said GV Woodworkers was a diverse club that welcomed anyone, and she encouraged those who would like to learn a new craft to join.
Surrounded by brightly painted blocks, games and other creations, FamilyCare’s Katie Huddleston said it was wonderful to be able to provide the wooden toys made by GV Woodworkers to clients each year.
“It’s handmade, it’s handmade with love, and it’s really special for us to be able to do that,” she said.
“It’s not about being Santa for them and providing everything.
“It’s actually trying to help them so that they’re not so stressed about having to spend so much money on gifts, and they can actually use their money to pay their rates or, you know, pay their phone bills and stuff like that,” Ms Huddleston said.
She said staff received positive feedback about the toys, which were unique.
GV Woodworkers’ members aren’t the only Christmas elves to help FamilyCare clients in need.
The organisation also receives toys from the community via gift trees placed around town.
Tags on the trees show specific ages and genders of children the organisation wishes to provide gifts to.
Members of the community can take a tag, purchase a corresponding gift, and then place the unwrapped item under the tree.
FamilyCare then distributes the gifts to those clients who need them.
“People often do want to give, but they don’t know how,” FamilyCare volunteer and fundraising co-ordinator Andrea Tuohey said.
“By having the giving trees out in the community, and in the shops and businesses, they can see it and take a tag and bring their present back, whether it’s on their coffee run in the morning or paying their rates at GV Water, or wherever they’re going, they’ve been able to have a place to donate.”
A list of gift tree locations is available on the FamilyCare website.
The organisation welcomes as many donations as the community will provide.
Once clients have the gifts they need, any extra gifts are donated to the Christmas for Those Alone event, and kids in the child protection system.
“It doesn’t all stay here; it actually does go out into the community and other organisations as well,” Ms Huddleston said.
As the holidays approach, FamilyCare is also looking for the community to get involved in fundraising.
The organisation takes over the gift-wrapping stand at the Shepparton Marketplace from Thursday, December 12 through Tuesday, December 24.
Community members can have their gifts wrapped by volunteers for a gold coin donation per present, with the donations going back to FamilyCare.
The organisation is looking for volunteers to take on two-hour shifts.
If you have a knack for wrapping gifts, and you want to give back during the holidays, you can sign up for a shift online, or contact FamilyCare at volunteer@familycare.net.au or on 0417 046 431.
To sign up online, visit tinyurl.com/t39f3rjd