Shoeboxes full of surprises can bring joy
Parents and schools from Hazyview are encouraged to get their own kids and schools involved in the project.
September 1 is the start of the Santa Shoebox project, that originated in Cape Town in 2006 with 180 shoeboxes. In 14 years it has grown, with the number of shoeboxes donated reaching a total of 858 637.
Parents and schools from Hazyview are encouraged to get their own kids and schools involved in the project. The kids can personally select the name of a specific child, who might never have received a Christmas gift before, from the selection list on the website. Each box gets filled with a toothpaste and toothbrush, bar of soap and wash cloth, casual clothing, educational supplies like pens, pencils and colouring books, sweets, a toy such as building blocks, trucks, dolls or finger puppets, and a tennis ball. It is a fun project for kids to decorate and fill the boxes and it helps to make 100 000 little hearts happy over Christmas.
The shoeboxes are distributed to more than 1000 recipient facilities, through more than 60 satellites around South Africa and Namibia.
There are three initiatives within the Santa Shoebox project: pledging a Santa Shoebox, donating rain ponchos, and donating funds to be used for skills training. For the first time you will be able to select a child and purchase a virtual Santa Shoebox, which gets put together by the volunteer team.
The nearest drop-off point will be the Mataffin Farm, Mbombela.
Contact 076-491-2407 (Whatsapp or SMS only), 086-766-5150 or info@santashoebox.org.za. Join in on sharing the joy of giving by visiting www.santashoebox.org.za.
