How to get involved in the Team Hope Christmas shoebox appeal

FILLING shoeboxes with gifts to send to children and families in need has become a gesture synonymous with the Christmas period.

However, according to Deborah Lowry, the newly appointed CEO of Irish charity Team Hope, “their impact lasts a lot longer than the festive season”.

“I did shoeboxes as a child through our church, and we all have that sense of ‘Do they actually get there?’ ‘Do the children actually get what people put in them?’” she says.

“But our teams are sending us pictures and videos from places like Burundi and Malawi every day because some of the boxes from last year are only just arriving now, due to issues with the Suez Canal.

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“But it doesn’t really matter what time of the year the children get it; they’re just as excited.

“Even receiving something like their very own pens and copybook is amazing because for some that allows them to go to school, so as well as bringing joy it’s also a door into education.”

Since the organisation’s start in 2010, Team Hope has delivered 2.5 million shoeboxes to children in countries across Eastern Europe and Africa who are experiencing extreme poverty.

Deborah explains that as result of the shoebox appeal the charity has also been able to support an estimated 150 sustainable development projects in 20 countries.

“We’ve got a pig farm starting in Malawi. Pigs are very robust animals apparently – who knew,” she laughs.

“But by setting up a small pig farm the entire community will benefit because they’ll be able to sell the pigs, and they’ll produce piglets but there’s also meat value and it gives them something else to rely on other than the crops.”

Since 2022 Team Hope have also supported a group of survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide by helping set up the Kabagali Pineapple Project.

The group of 178 farmers, 78% of whom are women, were given the knowledge, land and inputs to allow them to plant a community pineapple farm whilst also planting pineapples in their own kitchen gardens at home.

“Pineapple plants keep growing for around 30 years and the juice is so nutritious and the money made from them can be invested into the families so the children can go to school.

“It’s just a really positive and sustainable way to help,” Deborah enthuses.

“And neither the pig nor pineapple farms are multi-million-pound projects which I love because know the impact is very tangible and real.

“But it all starts with the Christmas shoebox appeal because rather than just walking away after Christmas we can stay and help.”

The charity recommends following the ‘four Ws’ - write, wear, wash and wow - when thinking about what to include in shoeboxes

Last year the charity delivered 176,615 shoeboxes to children in Romania, Transnistria (in Moldova), Ukraine, Albania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Kenya, Burkina Faso and Rwanda.

“We’d love to get to 200,000 shoeboxes this year,” Deborah confesses.

“Because not only will it bring so much joy to a child, but it also gives us the ability to do something more long-term in those communities.”

The charity recommends following the ‘four Ws’ when thinking about what to include as all the boxes go to children between the ages of two and 14.

“The first W is something to write with, which could be a pen, colouring pencils or crayons,” Deborah describes.

“Then the second is something to wear, whether that’s a little woolly hat or a T-shirt or shorts – they don’t need to be anything fancy, all we ask if that it’s new and clean.

“The third W is something to wash with - toothbrush, toothpaste, a bar of soap or a face cloth. Some children might only have the one toothbrush to share with the entire family so for them to have their own is incredible.

“And the final W is something that makes them go ‘wow’, whether that’s a little cuddly toy, a yoyo, a bouncy ball – anything really.

“Even here at our office all year-round people are collecting the little toys from McDonald’s, and we also have super knitters throughout the country that are knitting year-round.”

Deborah recalls one lady in particular who at the age of 95 has managed to knit “a giant box full of teddy bears”.

“Then all that’s left to do is pop a Team Hope Christmas shoebox appeal label on the front and we ask for a €5 or £5 donation just towards the logistics, secure with an elastic band and that’s it.”

Although the charity is based in Dublin anyone can get involved with the initiative as you can also build a shoe box online.

“It is just as impactful,” Deborah assures.

“A few years ago, we started a small loans project for some ladies in Rwanda that were dress making, so we bought them sewing machines and things like that so they could have an income.

“So, we approached those ladies last year and with the shoebox money that was collected online they made 4,000 school bags for the children in that community.

“We are so grateful. This year, the need is as great as ever and we want people to know the boxes and the kindness behind them really makes a difference to the children who receive them.

“I think a lot of people want to do something meaningful at Christmas and I can absolutely attest that this means the world to those children.”

Shoeboxes can be dropped off at hundreds of at a variety of places, including Toymaster, Poundland and Drop Inn Charity shops. For more information at teamhope.ie