Ray White donates 11,000 Christmas gifts

As a group, Ray White supported over 223 local charities including Ronald Mcdonald House, The Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul and many more, donating 11,182 gifts so far.

A Little Ray of Giving is Ray White’s annual Christmas charity initiative which is primarily focused on offices giving back to their local communities through a charity of their choice, by collecting and making donations.

Last year, Ray White introduced Little Ray the elf as the mascot of the campaign. Little Ray was back again for another year along with customised A Little Ray of Giving santa hats for members to wear.

Queensland office, Ray White North Lakes (pictured above) collected the most gifts of any office. The northside Brisbane office collected 1,826 gifts this year. All donations went to The Priority Project, which provides support to women and children who have experienced domestic violence.

The New Zealand office that collected the highest number of gifts was Ray White Whangarei (pictured below), the business counted 689 gifts which will all be going to Christmas in a Shoebox and Bald Angels.

The Ray White Mount Gambier office in regional South Australia was also recognised for the best A Little Ray of Giving inspired activity from the group’s Australian offices (pictured at top).

The office sponsored their local Blue Lake Carols night, offering food, drinks and activities for the kids at Little Ray’s Workshop as part of the family friendly event.

The South Australian office supported AC Care Mount Gambier for the fourth year in a row. AC Care Mount Gambier focuses on early intervention and prevention services, with a mission for all country people to have a safe home, enough money to live on and strong, positive relationships.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand office with the best A Little Ray of Giving inspired activity was Ray White Pāpāmoa, after taking their Little Ray elf on a whirlwind tour of the world (pictured above in Turkey). Ray White Mt Maunganui and Pāpāmoa supported the Tauranga Women’s Refuge for the second year in a row as part of their A Little Ray of Giving campaign.

Ray White Mount Maunganui and Pāpāmoa liaised with Tauranga Women's Refuge to find out what they needed most so that they could let the community know what to donate for each age group.

Ray White Mount Maunganui and Pāpāmoa marketing manager Cat Davey said they chose to support the women’s refuge due to their tireless work supporting women and families experiencing domestic violence.

“It is often the teenagers the women's refuge supports who are the ones that miss out, so the main requests we have are things like scuffs, steel drink bottles, sports equipment, journals and self-care packs," Ms Davey said.

As part of the initiative, Ray White offices also competed for the best decorated office. This year, the Australian award went to Ray White Pattersons Lakes in Melbourne (pictured above).

And Ray White Ponsonby was announced as the best decorated New Zealand office (pictured below).

There were so many stories of generosity and Christmas spirit coming out of the Ray White A Little Ray of Giving initiative.

One of the most beautiful stories was from the Ray White Swan Hill team in Victoria. Principal Cameron Smits shared a story about a couple who had lost a child in 2019, and another in 2021. They have now decided that each year they will purchase what they would have bought those boys and donate it in their memory to a family in need.

“This year they purchased a Vuly trampoline with all the extras. It’s a truly heartwarming story and made us realise that sometimes the giving is just as important and meaningful to the people who are donating it, not just those who receive,” he said.

“A huge thank you to Chris, Kim and Sam (pictured above) for an incredibly generous and heartfelt donation of a trampoline, along with some clothes for little ones too.

“We feel so blessed to witness, not just the generosity of our wonderful local community, but the stories and meaning behind them too. So many are going through difficult and tough times of their own and still giving and helping others. It’s tremendously heart warming.”

The Ray White Swan Hill team chose Mallee Family Care to donate to this year. Mallee Family Care is a leading human service provider of the Mallee region covering north west Victoria and far west New South Wales.

The Barossa Valley | Two Wells businesses, which operate across two offices in the Barossa region of South Australia, chose Backpacks 4 SA Kids to support through their Little Ray of Giving campaign.

This year, as a part of our A Little Ray of Giving fundraising, the team also participated in two major community events. They were part of the Lyndoch Street Party, along with walking the Main Street of Two Wells for the Two Wells Christmas Street Parade. The events included raffles, face painting, goodies to purchase and a fun, family photo booth - all to help raise extra funds for Backpacks 4 SA Kids. Along with 152 presents, they also raised $781.

Ray White Rural Timboon in Victoria got on board this year, donating to the MacKillop Family Services. They received 31 bundles of children’s books donated by the Timboon Opportunity Shop.

Meanwhile, New South Wales office Ray White Goulburn partnered with the Street Torque Motor Vehicle Group (STMVG) for their A Little Ray of Giving initiative this year.

The STMVG hosted a toy run for the local Goulburn, Crookwell and Gunning communities (pictured above). Thanks to their help, Ray White Goulburn had an extra $3,000 in donations and two Ute loads full of toys to donate to local kids in foster care. This has been their biggest year yet and the team have thoroughly enjoyed connecting with their local community.

The Ray White Wamuran office in Queensland has been supporting A Little Ray of Giving since its inception 13 years ago. They once again supported the Lions Club of Wamuran, part of a service of national volunteers committed to supporting communities across Australia.

The team also sponsored the Santa Run for Wamuran, D’Aguilar, Delaneys Creek, and Mount Mee, while sister office Ray White Caboolture sponsored the Santa Run for Elimbah in mid-December.

During the Wamuran Santa Run, property consultant Sophie Laws and sales associate Jasmyn Burke joined local councillor Tony Latter as he drove Santa around in a custom-built sleigh on the back of his RAM Ute (pictured above). Jasmyn played Santa’s little helper, and the offices proudly donated over 1,000 lolly bags for the event.

Also in Queensland, RWC Bayside supported A Little Ray of Giving by inviting all guests at their client Christmas celebration to contribute gifts for children aged 0-16 to be donated to the Redland Community Centre (pictured above). RWC Bayside marketing manager Karyn Stroet said the gifts would then be distributed to local families doing it tough during the festive season.

“The participation was tremendous and the event was a huge success, with more than 300 gifts collected to help bring the joy of Christmas to our community,” she said.

In New Zealand, Ray White Austar Realty’s five offices across West Auckland participated in A Little Ray of Giving by supporting the Give a Kid a Blanket campaign, giving gifts of warmth and comfort to those in need (pictured above).

Ray White Morris and Co supported Community Wellbeing North Canterbury Trust for A Little Ray of Giving this year, collecting more than 200 gift donations for those in need at their four offices across Rangiora, Pegasus, Amberley and Kaiapoi.

“The response has been strong - we have a great community who really rally behind the many great causes which are being run at this time of the year,” business owner Stuart Morris said.

“We see amazing donations from all parts of the community - families through to some incredibly generous donations from local businesses.”