Over 200 children got an early Christmas surprise when they received gifts from the Santa Shoebox Project  at Sedibathuto Primary School  in Mapetla last week.
The purpose of the initiative was to make a part of the shoebox project was for children to give to other children with the hopes of bringing a smile and an early Christmas to them.
The project initially started 10 years ago in Cape Town with only 180 shoeboxes.
The project has grown over the years and now has a total of 551 979 shoeboxes that were donated, where more than 1000 recipient facilities more than 60 satellites around the country and Namibia are benefitting.
Sedibathuto Primary School is benefitting for the second year, as they received donations last year in December as a surprise for the children.
The entire school from Grade R – Grade 7 received a shoebox containing a single toothbrush, toothpaste, educational supplies, soap and facecloth, sweets, no nuts and an outfit of clothing, and a toy, secured with an elastic band, and labelled with the recipients names.
Principle of the school Nomahlubi Xaba said the project will be continuous annually as long as the school registers the projects website online just to do something special for the children during the festive season.
The sub-coordinator of the project Ismin Jones has worked closely with the school for a while now especially with the garden project with the school, but this was another way for her to assist the school that is close to her heart. The parents of the children were invited to the school to see them receive their gifts and decided to write thank you letters to the initiative to express their gratitude; that will be published on the website.
Xaba said, “they were so happy and so excited, it feels good to see them light up like that.
If there are schools that would like to register for the project to go to their school next year, they can go to the official Santa Shoebox Project, register and follow the requirements to qualify.
Principle of the school Nomahlubi Xaba said, “They must enjoy these gifts because they have never gotten something like this before, for most it’s a first to even receive a Christmas gift so the look on their faces is what we wanted to capture and to give them an early Christmas gift.
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