Brighten up an underprivileged child’s Christmas through The Santa Shoebox Project
South Africa's beloved children’s charity, The Santa Shoebox Project, will be reaching its one millionth child this year, and donors are invited to participate in the significant event.
The project, which presents thousands of personalised Christmas gifts to disadvantaged children each year, is excited to announce the millionth shoebox donated, the millionth shoebox dropped off and the millionth child to receive their shoebox.
As of September 1, lists of children’s names were made available on the Santa Shoebox Project website.
Donors create a supporter profile and are granted access to the children’s first name, age, gender and clothing size, so they can create personalised gifts for their selected children.
The website provides a full list of items to be included in a shoebox.
The required items for a shoebox are:
• A toothbrush and toothpaste
• An outfit of clothing
• Sweets
• Age-appropriate toys
• A facecloth and bar of soap
• School supplies
Santa Shoebox Project recommends a special gift in the box too but is a bonus for the children, as the aim is to give them items they truly need.
Each year the project invites organisations which deal with or care for underprivileged children, orphanages, schools or children’s homes to apply to be beneficiaries of the project.
All of these applications are vetted by Santa Shoebox Project coordinators before they are approved.
“Our team pledging (for those who wish to pledge 20 or more Santa Shoeboxes for a group of people) was open during August and response has been amazing. She said publicity given by Caxton Local Media newspapers across the country helped them tremendously.
“Thank you so much to every newspaper which gave us exposure, we couldn’t have done it without you.
“We look forward to further support from the Caxton group as pledging opens and we work towards distributing the thousands of beautifully decorated shoeboxes to underprivileged children throughout South Africa and Namibia later this year,” Margie said.
She highlighted drop-offs will be conducted in line with prevailing Covid-19 regulations, adding the items should be sanitised and packed at least four to five days before the drop-off.
Virtual Santa Shoeboxes
This caters mainly to supporters outside South Africa who are not able to physically make up a shoebox and get it to a drop-off point. They buy a shoebox at a cost of R450 and the project creates one for them. The virtual shoeboxes are specifically distributed in rural areas where the donor capacity is low.
How to participate:
• Visit santashoebox.org.za
• Register as a supporter.
• Pick a convenient drop-off point that you can reach on the specified date.
• From September 1, when pledging begins, pledge a shoebox by selecting one or more recipients by name, age and gender.
• Print your QR-coded shoebox labels.
• Decorate or fill your shoebox according to the guidelines found on the website or Facebook page.
• Drop your shoebox at your selected drop-off point on the designated date.
For more information about the Santa Shoebox Project contact Margie at margie@santashoebox.org.za or visit www.santashoebox.org.za
