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So the idea of a "reverse advent calendar" is that it changes the focus instead of thinking about what you're receiving. It makes people think about what they can give.
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My name is Heather Lateral, and I'm the coordinator or founder of "reverse advent calendar" in Australia.
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You start with an empty box, and instead of taking something out every day, you put something in, so food or toiletries and Christmas treats for 20 days.
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And at that point, the box is usually pretty full, and the box is then donated to a food related agency, where it can then be given to a family in need.
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I was really seeing the power of it and the impact on my family, but really just planted this seed in me that there was something bigger in this, and I really wanted to see more people do it.
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So I put on Facebook. Would any of my friends like to join me?
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And I thought maybe I would find four friends that would join us that year, but the response was incredible.
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We ended up with over 70 boxes.
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I loved it, like it was amazing and I just loved seeing how much other people got from it and then seeing the combined boxes come together to know what a difference it would make.
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Which blows my mind to think that from one box in my family, in just four years, it's become 4000 families or individuals across Australia.
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They will have more food in their tummies and also that feeling of that they've been cared for.
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We hear stories like moms who because of that food, they're able to free up a bit of their own money to purchase their children a Christmas present.
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One asylum seeker family where the dad was able to choose not to work on Christmas Day because they could afford, because of a box, be able to be with his children on Christmas Day.
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People often say, it's such a busy time at Christmas, you know, how are you managing?
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But I find it energizes me. It just gives me so much joy and excitement.
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But I would love to get to a point where anybody in Australia who wants to get involved and feel the reverse at that kind of box would be able to access one and do it.