Shoe boxes for Christmas

I'm only surprised that anyone fails to grasp the meaning of Evangelical and what is their purpose and intent.

Thanks for the reminder.
As I said up thread I have always done Blythwood because a friend collected for them. She has now given up so I have just read the Rotary information. It differs from Blythwood- no sweets for example.
They meet at our local sports centre so I will contact one of the members.

From the posts up thread we now have a list of 'worthy' destinations for our donations and craftwork.
It's Easter now, so plenty of time to get organised.
To be honest, with all of the so called 'Christian' nonsense at the White House just now, I am more inclined to head the warnings upthread

BlueBelle

I stopped doing the shoe boxes some years ago when I read up a lot about the evangelical push placed on these children I preferred finding another way I used to do it every year but that put me off big time

Another one here, who stopped when I found out about the religion being included in them. When I ran a children's gymnastic club in East London, we collected these one year, hundreds of them, and were so disappointed when we learned about these tracts being added (many of our members were of the Jewish faith).

Please all those who are pushing aside our concerns read up about it
It’s not just about a piece of paper that can be thrown away
It is extremely evangelical run by Billy Grahams son It is very anti gay and preaches so, they will not employ anyone gay they are anti Muslim and other religions and preach as such The children have to commit to going to the chapels or whatever before they can have a box Many of the boxes are stolen and never reach the children often the contents are changed
There are big concerns over the finances of this organisation

They often don’t receive them at Christmas they sometimes don’t get them at all

Please read up about it There are other better ways I did SP for years until I found out the truth It’s much much more than leaflets

For many years I filled and then donated a shoebox to Samaritan’s purse. For the past few years since Covid I have switched to donating on line. You were able to choose the age group, if it was for a boy or girl, and select the contents from a list. This year although you can still take your own packed shoebox to a collection point, the online has changed. You can no longer choose what goes into the shoebox or who it is for or send a personal message. They just want you to donate £25. I don’t find this at all appealing and I will find another organisation to donate my money to.

I volunteer at a local homeless shelter and every Christmas I get to hand out the shoeboxes to homeless people. The joy on their faces when they open the boxes is incredible. Please don’t stop making things for these boxes and if you’re wary of church charities, homeless charities are always desperate and don’t have “ulterior” motives.

A relative of mine is obsessed with her shoe boxes. She never has time to speak to you or send a text as she is always so busy either making, collecting, or packing up.

It would me bother me if I was into doing good works. The religious texts will probably be quickly thrown into the bin by the parents.

That was to StoneofDestiny

Thank you for that information.
I do a couple of boxes for Blythwood and although they are upfront about putting in some literature I’ve always been uneasy about it.
I have taken the attitude that my gifts may make a difference and they can throw the leaflet away.
I will look at this other option now. Too late for this year though. I delivered mine yesterday.

Thank you for that info StoneofDestiny.

We filled shoeboxes years ago for Romanian children. I think this was organised by the Salvation Army. It was fun choosing little gifts.

Dizzyribs, that's awful, but as the Poster said upthread, find the organisation that suits you.

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!

Wow! I don't think the poster was expressing anti-Romanian feelings at all. The issue was a random stranger turning up on the doorstep surely? Also if he was well heeled, then he didn't need the parcel and others, less well heeled, did.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 🥰

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

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.