Public urged to donate unwanted Christmas gifts to charity

Dublin’s St Mary’s Pro Cathedral has urged people to donate unwanted Christmas presents to the needy rather than return them to the shops.

Cathedral administrator Fr Damien O’Reilly said hundreds of people living in homeless and emergency accommodation received donated gifts last year as the result of a similar drive, and the initiative has been renewed for 2015 so that “people who are struggling with life will get a small token of cheer”.

Members of the public can bring gifts to the Pro Cathedral crib, where they will be collected by Catholic community group Crosscare before being distributed to young people living in care and the homeless next year.

Collections begin on December 26th and gifts can be left at the crib until January 6th.

“This simple scheme allows Crosscare to give a gift to someone in their services who would not normally receive one,” said Fr O’Reilly.

It comes following the publication of a recent report from Focus Ireland which revealed that around two-thirds of the 1,500 children who were made homeless around the country this year were under the age of eight, and adult homelessness continues to be a problem.

"It is also a reminder to us all of how we can get needlessly caught up in wasteful commercialism at this time of year," he said, alluding to repeated messages from Pope Francis regarding the need to curb wasteful practices in the modern world.

The gift drive is one of a number of charitable activities which Crosscare has engaged in over recent weeks, which also included a very successful Diocesan Food Appeal for Dublin.