Donating presents to children of remote Aboriginal region

Our Solution

Route: Cairns > Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire

Aircraft: Cessna C208 Caravan

In the latter half of 2021, ACS partnered with Corporate Travel Management (CTM), Hinterland Aviation and Trinity College to plan the charitable donation and transportation of hundreds of presents to the children and families of Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire in Far North Queensland in time for Christmas.

Our team, along with our partners, purchased and wrapped over 300 presents from a toy store in Cairns before loading them onto the aircraft. Once the cargo landed at the new airport at Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire in Far North Queensland, the event was a huge success. It included a visit from Santa, a community BBQ and an opportunity for the entire community to come together and celebrate Christmas. We even worked with a local news channel (Seven News Cairns) to raise awareness for the community and help spread the joy.

The Finer Details

During the four months of planning needed for this charter there were a number of considerations and tasks that the ACS team had to tackle:

• Working with the local council to ensure adequate gifts for each age group and gender were sourced.

• Consideration for the type of gifts being purchased. For example, no gift could include batteries due to how remote the community is and the families being unable to source replacements.

• Wrapping and labeling of 300 gifts (by age and gender).

• Sourcing over 250 metres of wrapping paper.

• Working with aircraft engineers to measure Cessna C208 Caravan cabin and remove seats on the aircraft to ensure as many gifts could be transported as possible.

• Arranging the delivery from the toy store, to the event.

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