Sarah Kennedy and her sister Mikaila McEwan were among the families at the Smith Family's Woden headquarters on Thursday afternoon to receive toy and book packs for their children.

"It's good to know that people are out there to look after you in a rough period," Ms Kennedy said.

Ms McEwan said the Smith Family had helped her with back-to-school supplies for her children in the past and now had provided soccer balls, board games, books and a range of toys for her two children.

There were 20 volunteers on hand to help distribute the gifts.

Smith Family ACT team leader Sue Gore-Philips said the organisation had been thrilled by the generosity of Canberrans.

"Canberrans have actually made sure there are smiles on Christmas Day," she said. "I can guarantee that with families on our program, there is a high likelihood it would have been a very lean Christmas [without the Smith Family's help]."

Ms Gore-Philips said poverty was a hidden issue in Canberra and 1.1 million children lived below the poverty line nationally.

"Most Canberrans are not aware. They may see someone who is living on the streets occasionally, but they don't realise how widespread the issue is."

Ms Gore-Philips said the Smith Family's Learning for Life program, which distributed the Christmas gifts, achieved real results.

"I'm seeing statistics that the kids involved in the Learning for Life are staying at school longer, their attendance at school is higher, their understanding is better and more of them are graduating year 12 and going onto further study," she said.

Gift distribution was set to continue until 8pm on Thursday.