More than 50,000 Queensland adults, teenagers and children in need are expected to benefit from the generosity of their local communities this Christmas from gifts given to the 2009 Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal, which was launched in Brisbane on Thursday 12 November.

The Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal is Australia's largest Christmas gift appeal generating over 2.5 million gifts in the past decade and 370,000 gifts nationally last year.  The aim for 2009 is to collect more than 400,000 gifts across Australia with 57,000 of those gifts coming from Queenslanders; which will then be distributed via charity partner, The Salvation Army.

The concept for the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal began when an Adelaide store employee suggested Kmart use its network of stores as gift collection points to assist welfare groups during the Christmas period.

Anyone wanting to participate in the Appeal can place a wrapped or unwrapped gift under a Christmas Wishing Tree located at any Kmart store.  A tag from the Wishing Tree is then placed onto the gift to specify the age and gender of a suitable recipient.

Captain Derek Whitehouse of The Salvation Army said their representatives will collect the gifts from the Kmart stores across Queensland on a regular basis and start distributing to those in need straight away.

"People can also make cash donations or place their spare change in a coin collection box at Kmart stores around the country," said Captain Whitehouse.

"We would urge people to think of teenagers and especially adults when donating their gifts this year rather than just younger children," he said.

The 2009 Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal launched nationally on Thursday 12 November and will run for six weeks until Christmas Eve.

Indooroopilly Kmart hosted the Queensland launch on November 12 at 10am with special guest Kim McCosker of ‘4 Ingredients' fame.

For more information on the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal visit http://wishingtree.kmart.com.au/ or call 1800 124 125.

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For further information, interviews or photos please contact:

Nicole Fisher

Publicity Queen

M 0419 661 085