Attendees for the launch on Saturday morning included Mount Isa Police Station officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Renee Hanrahan, Kmart employees, deputy mayor Phil Barwick and Salvation Army representatives. 

The presents under the wishing tree are donated to the Salvation Army’s Christmas Tree Appeal and are donated to families in the region. 

A weekly update on the present tally will be displayed in the store this year. It will be updated each Monday. 

The store’s target number of presents to collect from the community this year was 800. This was an increase of 100 from last year’s aim. 

Kmart’s target across Australia and New Zealand was 370,000 presents. 

Salvation Army Mount Isa officer Lieutenant Helen Whittle said she had seen local children’s joy from the presents collected by the wishing tree. 

Donating presents to strangers was a “small way” of making a difference.