The Santa Shoebox project is on the road to making magic
Want to be a volunteer for the Santa Shoebox project? Well it is easy. All you have to do is visit santashoebox.org.za for more details.
The Santa Shoebox Project is calling on community members to be part of this project and give back to underprivileged children.
The shoebox initiative focuses on collecting and distributing gifts for underprivileged children throughout South Africa and Namibia. The shoebox includes what the children need, rather than what they want; these are things like a toothbrush, toothpaste, facecloth, soap, age-appropriate stationery items, an outfit of clothing, an age-appropriate toy and sweets.
The theme this year is ‘Let’s Make Magic’, which was chosen because the project is magical and makes a difference in the children’s lives.
The project’s national sponsorship and regional manager for Gauteng, Free State, North West, Port Elizabeth and East London, Margie Kostelac, who is no stranger to community work, said, “I love this theme because this project is magical. It is such a privilege to see the look on these children’s faces when they open their Santa Shoebox.”
Margie, who has been involved in this successful project for the past 13 years, added that at the beginning of each year, friends, families, colleagues and community members across South Africa and Namibia put their hands up and offer a few hours per month to share in the mantra of the ‘Joy of Giving’.
She went on to explain how she got involved in this project, saying, “My working background is the hospitality industry, which I loved, but I was retrenched 13 years ago. I needed to keep busy. One day a friend sent me an email about the Santa Shoebox Project, so I got my mom, who had Alzheimer’s, involved to knit beanies to donate to the project. We filled an apple box with beanies and went to drop them with a woman in Johannesburg. I was astonished to find the woman’s house filled with shoeboxes and said ‘It looks like you need help’ … the rest is history! That was the start of my journey with the Santa Shoebox Project.”
The project assists close to a million children from orphanages, schools and children’s homes, among others.
Margie explained the process they use to choose children as beneficiaries. She said each year they invite organisations that deal with or care for underprivileged children to apply to be beneficiaries of the project.
“We received 2 430 applications this year. All of these applications are vetted by our coordinators before they are approved. Pledging starts on 1 September, and that is when we publish the list of children’s names per area. Supporters can then go to our website, https://www.santashoebox.org.za, and select the recipient of their shoebox by name, age and gender,” she explained.
The people involved in making this initiative a success are coordinators across the country that look after their areas and are also very well supported by sponsors, volunteers and service organisations like Rotary and Round Table.
Margie stated that there is also a virtual Santa Shoebox, which caters for people 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 we make it up for them. Our virtual shoeboxes are specifically distributed in rural areas where the donor capacity is low,” concluded Mandy.
Here are the steps that people wanting to participate must please follow:
• 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 opens, 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 on margie@santashoebox.org.za.
