00:00For mother of three, Sarah Bullock, Christmas has always been a special time.
00:08We grew up with Christmas being a really big deal.
00:10But with rising mortgage repayments and three hungry mouths to feed, the festive season
00:16comes at a big cost.
00:18Especially considering I am on mat leave, we are only on one income at the moment.
00:23Like so many families, Sarah says their household budget is being stretched to the limit.
00:29We've got a budget for our food and I just noticed each fortnight that we were getting
00:34less and less for the same budget.
00:36This year, Sarah and her husband are opting for second-hand gifts for their little ones.
00:41You're essentially buying a really good quality, almost new item for a fraction of the price.
00:48My children love books, so I got them from like 50 cents to $2 each, which is great.
00:54And yeah, a few items of clothing, some new swimwear.
00:58For a growing number of households in the NT, affording the basics is a challenge.
01:04This year, requests for Vinnie's emergency relief payments are up 25 per cent.
01:09We've gone over $300,000 worth of grants that we've given out to families in need.
01:15Nearly 40 per cent of Territorians experienced food insecurity in the last 12 months, Food
01:22Bank reporting a 34 per cent surge in demand.
01:26We're in a cost of living crisis.
01:28There's no way, you can't gloss over it.
01:30It's people who are working on low wages, they've got families and they just cannot
01:35put food on the table, they cannot provide the gifts for the families at Christmas time.
01:40To take pressure off struggling families, this Christmas volunteers pitching in their
01:44time for Vinnie's annual hamper drive.
01:48We use Vinnie's sometimes and yeah, we just do it in the holidays.
01:53We did it last year and this year.
01:55I was lucky enough when my children were little that I could give them the world, so I'd like
02:01to give back.
02:02450 households right across the Northern Territory are going to be receiving one of these carefully
02:08packed hampers this Christmas, including people from the Tiwi Islands, Catherine and Emu Point.
02:15We've asked people, what did you think about the tampers?
02:19It just made my day.
02:20It made a huge difference to me.
02:22I was able to feed the family and I was able to be stress free for a day.
02:27As the saying goes, maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store, maybe, perhaps, it means
02:33a little bit more.
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