Pledge a gift box filled with joy

The Santa Shoebox Project, with its vision of people connecting through the joy of giving, launched its seventh annual gift drive across South Africa in September.

Having reached the ambitious goal of collecting close to 100 000 gifts for children at over 1 000 orphanages, creches and care centres around the country last year, it has set its sights on achieving this again this year, while aiming to include even more centres and schools in small towns and farming communities, who are in desperate need of assistance.

The focus this year is also to extend its support to many more orphanages in all areas, and to allocate a percentage of Santa Shoeboxes collected at the larger centres in bigger cities, to facilities in the rural areas. This heart-warming project is an initiative of the Kidz2Kidz Trust, a registered public benefit and non-profit organisation with Section 18A status that offers assistance to children in need.

Spearheaded by Kidz2Kidz founder Dee Boehner in 2006 and coordinated by Irene Pieters since 2007, this inspiring non-profit organisation has been collecting Santa Shoeboxes at Christmas time for thousands of children from distinctly vulnerable social backgrounds since it started in Cape Town in 2006. This has earned these dedicated women a spot as joint winners of the 2011 GLAMOUR Women of the Year Awards in the category of Most Inspiring Women in Charity in South Africa.

The project has grown in leaps and bounds, not only extending to Namibia, but more than doubling in size every year over the past six years.

With the joy of giving as the essence of the project, the Santa Shoebox Project offers people from all walks of life the opportunity to participate in a profoundly valuable and personal experience. Uniquely, donor parents and their children are involved in personally selecting the name of a specific child from the selection lists on the website, which means that each participant knows the first name, age and gender of the child. Gift boxes are filled with some necessities such as toothpaste and a toothbrush, face cloth and soap, some sweets, educational supplies, a toy and an outfit of clothing, individually chosen and filled. It is this personal touch that endears the project to adults and children from all communities.

“Without the support of thousands of people from all walks of life driven by a desire to make a real difference in the lives of our children, the Santa Shoebox Project could not thrive. With that the generous corporate sponsorships from companies such as PEP and Laser Logistics (our long-term partners) have been key to our growth and expansion, so it’s heartwarming to know that they are on board again this year. Special thanks to our extensive volunteer network across South Africa and Namibia.

“It is impossible to put a value on the generosity of spirit, time and energy that they contribute to the project,” says national coordinator Irene Pieters.

Enter into the spirit of the Festive Season early this year and register at www.santashoebox.co.za. The gift wrapped Santa Shoeboxes need to be dropped off at central distribution points across the country on designated dates in October. Details and directions are provided on the website.

On 18, 19 and 20 October pledgers will have the opportunity to drop off their boxes at the AFM Church in Libertas Street, Noordheuwel. From 8am on 18 and 19 October and from 9am on 20 October.

For more information, contact Rhoda du Toit who is the JHB Far West coordinator on 083 369 2640.