Shoe boxes for Christmas

Thanks lixy for the charity name.

And, ask a local Rotary Club.

It wouldn't bother me it will be discarded without a thought most probably so a waste of paper .

Our local stonehouse pub has had a christmas tree up since beginning of october and on it are little tree gift tags that children in homeless shelters etc have had filled in for them, for the small gifts they would like- i took two, one for a girl aged 9 who would like a colouring set,& one for a boy aged 12 who only asked for toiletries- it was heartbreaking that thats all he asked for! Poor love.(to my own grandkids toiletries are a given,theyre bought with the weekly shop,not a gift.) I wrapped them & attached the tags myself but the pub staff do say if you dont want to do so,just bring the gift& tag and they will giftwrap them.I thought it a lovely idea and i may do some more if i can afford once ive bought for all my grandchildren.I havent done the shoeboxes since my youngest son left school though.(his school used to send them off)

Maybe others can look up where their local stonehouse pub is,and see if they are doing this?(its our local carvery, so we go for tea occasionally)Or if not maybe suggest the idea, even if its not a stonehouse? I'm not sure when they're collecting them till though?🤔

My sons school was catholic so they sent the boxes to the red cross i believe.

eddiecat78

DD did this with her school when it first became a thing. In theory she sent a box to a girl in Rumania - we got a letter back from a boy. It then became apparent he was quite a well off boy as he started sending us parcels! This carried on back and forth for a couple of years until I intercepted a postcard from him who was now living in America and wanting her email address. I had visions of him turning up on our doorstep!

I think that’s rather nice to keep up a long corres after the initial parcel was sent. If he was well healed and sending you parcels what on earth is wrong with him turning up on your doorstep?? Surely nice to meet? Do you have something against Romanians?
I met a lovely Romanian working on the house next door in my 40s .. now I’m 80 next year we have been great friends ever since!

Do you do this for the enjoyment of making things or mainly to give to children? If it is the 'making' perhaps look about for other charities who would happily receive knitted items (locally homes and charities take 'fiddle muffs') and if it is the 'giving' uppermost, perhaps money is best - of course having checked how it will be used.

Our Cathedral issues Rotary boxes to fill, I make one up for an older person, warm hat, gloves, socks, toiletries etc. You can put a Chirstmas card in with your contact details if you wish, I did once get a reply back from a family in Romania, they had been given the box in June!

I am part of a crafting groupand some of the ladies knit hats to send to Ukraine. I used to do shoe boxes but the local person I knew that sent them stopped so I stopped too.
One year my DD collected through her school. It was a school in a wealthy area and we received some lovely things but many didn't meet the criteria for the shoeboxes, so, having made up shoeboxes with what was suitable I took the rest to the Salvation Army to give to local needy families.
I now support Crisis every year having volunteered with the local homeless charities and the Salvation Army.
I didn't know literature was added. They deliberately said not to include books as the children mostly wouldn't speak english. Did they produce the literature in other languages? I don't have a problem with including Christian literaure but would be interested to know if any was read.

suelld

eddiecat78

DD did this with her school when it first became a thing. In theory she sent a box to a girl in Rumania - we got a letter back from a boy. It then became apparent he was quite a well off boy as he started sending us parcels! This carried on back and forth for a couple of years until I intercepted a postcard from him who was now living in America and wanting her email address. I had visions of him turning up on our doorstep!

I think that’s rather nice to keep up a long corres after the initial parcel was sent. If he was well healed and sending you parcels what on earth is wrong with him turning up on your doorstep?? Surely nice to meet? Do you have something against Romanians?
I met a lovely Romanian working on the house next door in my 40s .. now I’m 80 next year we have been great friends ever since!

Er - well-heeled! I hate intuitive text!

We used to do the boxes, and given a limit to spend. So we put in as much as we could, because it was all voluntary - knitting, jewellery, hair decorations... then they stopped doing it because of COVIS-19, and it never got going again. Pity, really - but I have too much on my plate to organise it myself. Nobody has to read any religious flyers - or even recipe books, for that matter.

My daughter was a volunteer working in a village when the Samaritans Purse “Christmas” gifts arrived. They were in Christmas paper, but it was a month or two after Christmas. She was quite shock and would never do the shoebox thing again after she came home. Apparently it’s not just the evangelical literature in the boxes, which as you have said, can be thrown away. The village children had to attend a very strong evangelical service and make a commitment to be a Christian and they only got their boxes if they went forward to the front when the preacher gave the appeal.
It might have only been this particular team that did this, but she had heard similar things from other western volunteers in this country.

Some interesting replies and information here ladies, thank you.

The other two charities I have sent to are Blythswood in Scotland and Link to Hope.

I didn't know that Rotary did shoeboxes so that is new information for me.

Sandelf, why do I do them? Well yes for the enjoyment but much more so for the end user.

There was an appeal via The UK Hand Knitting Association for hats for the Ukraine and I did many of those in dark colours as requested. Sadly they are still needed.

I think I just by pass any information that is in them as up to the person if they read or not and that is the least of my worries, at the end of the day you are just hoping the knitting and gifts you have sent are going to help them a little in the cold weather and give some comfort. I know we can't solve all the worlds problems but you just try to do your bit.

We did Link to Hope this year. I prefer it to Samaritan's Purse because as far as I know no literature is included. Also it asks for Elderly Boxes and Family Boxes rather than just children's boxes. I know someone who has been involved on the ground and he said that the elderly boxes, for couples or older people alone where particularly well received. It's always difficult to know if these things help but I will continue with the Link to Hope boxes unless I hear of any undue pressure on the recipients.

I stopped when I discovered that they brain washed kids at an early age. Sad really. I knit for a church where I grew up. They need a new roof etc.

1. Ask at your local food bank if they have children who might like, perhaps?

2. I send knitted items to a lady in Perth who sends medical equipment to Ukraine. They use them to pack the equipment, instead of paper and poly. and then are given out to children in hospital

mrsgreenfingers56

Some interesting replies and information here ladies, thank you.

The other two charities I have sent to are Blythswood in Scotland and Link to Hope.

I didn't know that Rotary did shoeboxes so that is new information for me.

Sandelf, why do I do them? Well yes for the enjoyment but much more so for the end user.

There was an appeal via The UK Hand Knitting Association for hats for the Ukraine and I did many of those in dark colours as requested. Sadly they are still needed.

I think I just by pass any information that is in them as up to the person if they read or not and that is the least of my worries, at the end of the day you are just hoping the knitting and gifts you have sent are going to help them a little in the cold weather and give some comfort. I know we can't solve all the worlds problems but you just try to do your bit.

Lovely 🥰

Used to sponsor a boy in Africa. Shoe box was filled and posted directky to the camp where Charity operated. No religious items of any sort were distributed. Some of my colleagues also did the same, and one year we all decided to include a football strip. According to the bulletins we received the kids loved it. Stopped when I retired.

I was keen on doing one of these boxes but found out that they contained religious material. I want to give without any message being put across. I wish there was an organisation that did similar boxes but without trying to indoctrinate people.

There are many shoe box appeals that specifically state that no religious material is placed in boxes. I support this every year as do my neighbours and friends. Choose the right appeal rather than dismissing them all.

Teams4U (T4U) are on the web - they specifically state they do not include religious messages. They are a Hunanitarian Organisation and not a religious one.
Please do not discourage people from supporting shoebox appeals - just choose the right one.

Doodledog

I agree with those who oppose Samaritans Purse. They are anti-Muslim, homophobic and anti-abortion, and require employees to be likewise.

Many schools pulled out of the scheme after parents complained about the clash with their own values (which were often the values promoted in schools too). Also, there has been criticism of the mismatch between the gifts and the needs of the communities who get them, and there was controversy about a hospital they were going to set up in NY because of the vitriolic comments the founder made about gay people.

www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/opposition-samaritan-s-purse-central-park-field-hospital-grows-n1184216

humanists.uk/2023/11/16/humanists-uk-cautions-parents-to-exercise-caution-with-operation-christmas-child/#:~:text=Reverend%20William%20Franklin%20Graham%20III,their%20support%20was%20directed%20elsewhere.

I agree that it's a shame, as the idea is a good one, but it would work better if the gifts were more targeted. Homeless charities and Women's refuges give boxes to their service users, but they ask for donations and buy the gifts (usually things like hats and gloves for the homeless and toiletries and toys for families in hostels).

This. I managed to get my place of work to cut links with Samaritans Purse by pointing out that the values they espouse were diametrically opposed to those of our (very multicultural) organisation. We moved to sending gifts to our local food bank instead.

Dizzyribs

My daughter was a volunteer working in a village when the Samaritans Purse “Christmas” gifts arrived. They were in Christmas paper, but it was a month or two after Christmas. She was quite shock and would never do the shoebox thing again after she came home. Apparently it’s not just the evangelical literature in the boxes, which as you have said, can be thrown away. The village children had to attend a very strong evangelical service and make a commitment to be a Christian and they only got their boxes if they went forward to the front when the preacher gave the appeal.
It might have only been this particular team that did this, but she had heard similar things from other western volunteers in this country.

This is exactly why I put a stop to the village school sending boxes when I was governor there.

Where I live we have a local secular charity who organises the shoe boxes. They drive the boxes to their destination across Europe and send back photos which get put up on FB for us to see the recipients. The donations are tailored for the relevant area. I knit blankets for pensioners and they go too.