A 'donation station' was set up in the school's library for students to donate non-perishable foods such as cans of spaghetti, baked beans, soup, long-life milk and cereal.

CareWorks, a Sunbury-based crisis centre, provides

help to people in need.

CareWorks director Jennifer Guise said the school's help was invaluable.

She said the school also planned to use its industrial kitchen to cook meals that could be frozen and handed out to CareWorks clients.

Ms Guise called on other schools to follow Sunbury Downs' lead and help the organisation.

"Anything you can do to assist would be great as this year we are a very small organisation joining very big Salvos and St Vincent's to do joint Christmas hampers for Sunbury and the Macedon Ranges and we are going to be in desperate need of Christmas food items and general items. We always need long-life milk and spreads like vegemite and peanut butter, and tinned baked beans and spaghetti are fantastic," she said.

"Donations from our community are vital. We are a very small not-for-profit organisation doing a huge job. The latest figures suggest in the past three years client numbers have doubled every year and will again this year so the need keeps growing, but funding from government sources is dwindling. Without our community we just wouldn't survive."

If you would like to make a donation phone CareWorks, 97408799.