1,000 box benchmark set for Toti’s Santa Shoebox contribution

SANTA Shoebox Project co-ordinator for Toti, Lisette Muller needs the community’s help to collect as many boxes as festive gifts for local children as possible.

“Pledges open on 1 September and Toti has been given the task of collecting 1,000 boxes to be donated to children in Toti and surrounding areas,” said Lisette.
To pledge, register online at www.santashoebox.co.za, pledge a box and pick a convenient drop-off point. Select one recipient or more by name, age and gender, which gives a personal connection.

Decorate and fill your shoebox with new and age-appropriate items. Items needed are toothpaste, toothbrush, bar of soap, wash cloth, an outfit of clothing, educational supplies, sweets and a toy.
Boxes can be dropped off during national drop-off week – the last weekend of October and first weekend of November. The Toti drop-off point is the Toti 1st Scout hall in Drake Road, Toti and the drop-off days are Thursday to Saturday, 23 to 25 October.

Volunteers are also needed on the days, so if you want give back, call Lisette on 082-411-1666. Donations of extra items are also needed for boxes which have missing items.

The overall 2014 target is 100,000 gift boxes and beyond.

The heartwarming Santa Shoebox Project has been collecting festive season gifts for children from vulnerable social backgrounds in orphanages, children’s homes and care centres across the country for the past eight years.
Connecting people through the ‘joy of giving’, the theme this year is ‘KISS -Keep it Sustainable Santa’. Members of the public can become a donor of one (or more) of the 100,000 Santa Shoebox gifts for children in need. Supporters will also have the option to donate Proudly South African raincoats to children who live in high winter rainfall areas, to keep them dry on their way to school every day.

“In 2013, the target of 100,000 boxes was exceeded by nearly 20,000. We realised that additional avenues for donor support had become a necessity as it is simply not sustainable to continue increasing the number of shoeboxes distributed every year. This has led to the decision to focus on collecting complementary, critical items too, of which the raincoat is our first. Future options under consideration are lap-desks and solar buddy lanterns – a desk and good light to do homework being vital requirements for school-going children, but often not available in rural areas,” said Irené Pieters, Santa Shoebox Project national project co-ordinator,

Corporate clients and other benefactors are also invited to make a financial donation towards the new Santa Shoebox Legacy fund that will provide additional support to children’s facilities.
The focus of the newly established Santa Shoebox Legacy is to teach caregivers skills that will not only benefit children under their care, but the wider community too.

‘We’ll be introducing and financing a new skill every year to help build and uplift Santa Shoebox Project communities across South Africa. We will start with first aid training and equipment in 2015 and in future will look at projects such as self-defence training, or how to grow a vegetable garden.