Update (16/12):

WOW. We are totally shocked and overwhelmed with this support. In less than 12 hours we reached our target of $3000, and in less than a week we’re over 3 times what we hoped for.

Because of the massive support, I'm writing you all an update to let you know what is going on.

We've now upped our target to an ambitious $20,000, which will include longer-term support for sacked workers and families, and money to campaign to get their jobs back. Wherever possible, we're spending money locally to help our local economy. This way the community benefits from the money we spend, and the kids benefit from what the local traders produce.

We've given more detail in what our budget will consist of below. But we also want you to know that any extra funds will also be well spent in the new year supporting families who have just been evicted from their homes by Glencore in addition to fighting Glencore to get the community's jobs back. We're now going to also look to the longer term and spend up to $5000 supporting families who struggle for more than a year and cannot buy Christmas presents next year. And we'll spend up to $5000 to run a campaign holding Glencore to account and trying to get people's jobs back.

The CEO of Glencore Ivan Glasenberg hasn't answered any of our questions about what his plans are for Collinsville and the mine's workers that he's just sacked. Instead, he's been evicting families from their company housing just in time for Christmas. We've already travelled down to Sydney but he refused to meet with us. We'll be putting more pressure on him to come clean about what will happen, and we'll also put pressure on him to reinstate the workers for this productive mine.

I hope Glencore can see the community spirit and solidarity that is here. The response has been amazing. Thank you.

Donna & Laurie-Ann

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Glencore Grinch stole Collinsville kids’ Xmas joy - Help bring it back!

We’re Donna Bulloch and Laurie-Ann Williams and we live in a mining community in central Queensland. Earlier this year, Glencore Xstrata sacked the entire workforce employed at the local mine and now the whole town is struggling.

Many of the men from the town are now away weeks at a time in order to work. Businesses are barely staying afloat.The 400 kids who are left in the town have no idea what tomorrow will bring. Their dads aren't home anymore, their mums have had their work hours cut, and they've been told they might have to start going to school 2 hours away.

And now most people don't even have enough money to get their kids Christmas presents

The CEO of Glencore refuses to talk to the town residents about why the company is behaving like this. Glencore is now advertising those very same jobs but locals who have applied have been told they have been unsuccessful.

Instead, Glencore is going through a labour hire agency to find workers despite hundreds of fully qualified locals living 5km away from the mine.

What is normally a town that feels like one big family has now been knocked around. We're still trying to pull together, but we could use some help to make sure our kids get a present for Christmas.

We're not asking for anything extravagant. Just something that will brighten up Christmas for our kids.

Collinsville is more than just a town - it's a community. We've been living here for generations. We want to keep living here. And we’re going to fight to make that happen.

For the Christmas party for the 400 kids and their families:
Food: Ice-creams for the kids, meat and bread for the parents ($820)
Entertainment: mini-golf, bouncy castle, fairy floss/popcorn, tattoos for the kids, sticky wall ($4225)
Photos: For every child to get their photo taken with Santa ($430)
Advertising: To let the whole town know about it ($550)
Presents: A $6 showbag for each of the 400 kids ($2430)
Hamper: A $60 hamper for 6 lucky parents ($360)
Arts & crafts: So that the kids can make Xmas cards and posters, sand art decorations, and a massive hand print hanging ($500)

For supporting the community:
Medium-to-long-term support of families who struggle for more than a year and can't buy Christmas presents in 2014 ($5000)
Support to get workers' jobs back and put pressure on Ivan Glasenberg and Glencore ($5000)

Because Collinsville is in the middle of central Queensland, there will be distance challenges in making this happen. We are running this early so that we can ensure the materials arrive in Collinsville in time.