2007-11-30

A shoebox full of goodies for Christmas.

By Bliss Barber

This Christmas, 1 500 orphans and vulnerable children will receive a shoebox containing at least one new outfit and personal hygiene essentials because of one woman's aim to teach privileged children "the art of sharing."

According to Dee Boehner, founder of From the Children To the Children, the Santa's Shoebox project is an important way to teach the "children who have" to be "children who give."

"There is a huge gap between the kids of this country. It's not just a hand out - it's caring and sharing," said Boehner.

'Most of the children don't have parents'
This year's project will see the distribution of 1 500 shoeboxes, a significant increase from the 210 shoeboxes distributed during last year's Christmas season.

With the help of Laser Logistics, a transport company which donated its services free of charge, the project was able to make shipments of 100 shoeboxes at a time to children's homes in areas such as Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Nyanga, and Somerset West. The shoeboxes were filled with basic essentials for the children such as toothbrushes, soap, face cloths, shampoo, and at least one new article of clothing.

"Most of the children don't have parents; they are looked after by care givers and places of safety. We want one item of clothing to be new because they are used to hand-me-downs," said Boehner.

"Sometimes people go further and put in stickers, crayons, and underwear. Underwear is quite inexpensive and it's nice for the kids to have fresh underwear."

Volunteers also conduct year-long collections from places like créches and clinics to deliver items such as school supplies, nappies, cots, tables, and chairs to children in homes and educare centres.

'I couldn't even field all of the calls this year'
Boehner said she was excited by the rapid growth of the project. "I couldn't even field all of the calls this year; I ran out of memory on my phone."

She said she hoped to bring the shoebox project into school curriculums in the future so that children could learn to pull together in collecting parcels for other children.

To become involved with the From the Children To the Children project, contact Dee Boehner on 083 460 4449. 

The full article can be found here.