ALL that a lot of families want for Christmas, is the ability to provide gifts for their children in order to experience the magic of the festive season. Waking up on December 25 to a tree packed with gifts and a stuffed stocking is what every child dreams of, and thanks to the 2BS B-Rock Christmas Toy Appeal, these Christmas wishes can come true. The appeal, which has been running for more than 20 years, will this year help to deliver thousands of gifts for up to 500 families in Bathurst. These toys will be distributed by several charitable organisations including St Vincent de Paul, the Bathurst Uniting Support Services, Shine for Kids, Housing Plus, and many more. And on Thursday, December 7, members of the Salvation Army collected an array of gifts to be delivered to those in need in the community. There were Barbies and Bluey's, Hot Wheels and hoops, and balls, bears and countless board games. And welfare team member of the Salvation Army, Stephen Barrott, said he was honoured to be able to present these to parents in the community. Approximately 60 families applied with the Salvos to receive donations this year, with the cut off for these applications being Wednesday, December 6. "We had a lady come in yesterday, and she had just moved into a house and that cost all her money, so she had nothing for her kids for Christmas," he said. "So she came in and asked 'am I late?' because she thought she was going to be late, and when I told her she was on time, she was so happy, and she started crying." Despite the cut-off date for applications passing, Salvation Army mission team leader Steve Medved, said that the team would do everything in their power to ensure nobody goes without. He assured that anybody who heads into the Salvos in need of assistance will be helped, and that they won't be turned away. "This is the least that we could do, with the help of the town, to donate presents to kids and families that are struggling," he said. "It's just to help to lighten the burden a little bit and bring some smiles to kids' faces." During the year, the Salvation Army has seen a significant increase in the number of people utilising their services, which makes the generosity of the community even more meaningful. "It's getting really hard for people yet the community is still stepping out, despite themselves struggling. That's pretty amazing," Mr Medved said. Both Mr Medved and Mr Barrott expressed their thanks to the Bathurst community for the abundance of donations. The pair also thanked B-Rock FM for facilitating such a fantastic, festive and fun toy appeal this Christmas.