In one of its biggest days of the year, St Vinnies began distributing food hampers, store vouchers and bundles of toys to needy residents.

Within hours of opening its doors on Monday morning, St Vinnies had already given out half the 27 hampers.

“It’s just been raining chaos all this morning,” Mount Isa St Vinnies president Kay Bloomfield said.

Food and toy donation baskets had been placed at various venues in the city for the past few weeks.

A woman who came to collect a food hamper said she greatly appreciated the gifts from the charity.

“What they do for us is just fantastic,” she said.

“With a bit of the money I’ve got from the government I put on bills for after Christmas.

“I’m hoping to get a job next year but at the moment I’m caring for my brother and my grandchild, so between helping them I haven’t got much time. What they do for us works great because it’s going to make Christmas a bit better - even if it’s just for a Christmas dinner.”

Ms Bloomfield said food and toy hampers would be donated up until Christmas.

“Everyone else will get vouchers to organise themselves for the big day,” she said.

Ms Bloomfield said the level of public support for the charity drive was outstanding.

“We want to thank everyone who donated all the food, toys and made financial contributions which benefited is to buy bigger activity toys for the kids,” she said.