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It's Christmas shoebox appeal time once again – oh yes it is!

October 10th, 2018 5:50 PM

By Southern Star Team

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An appeal has gone out for donations for this year's West Cork Christmas Shoebox campaign.

AN appeal has gone out for donations for this year’s West Cork Christmas Shoebox campaign.

Last year nearly 5,000 boxes packed with gifts were sent from this area to children in orphanages, hospitals, refugee centres and schools in Eastern Europe and Africa.

Nationally this was the breakdown: Kosovo (19,933), Belarus (9,318), Latvia (1,253), Transinistria (16,884), Ukraine (34,100), Burundi (14,811), Congo (7,453), Kenya (426), Lesotho (22,053, Albania (27,433), Malawi (44,390), Romania (37,906) and Swaziland (29,676).

To take part it’s a case of simply covering a shoebox with Christmas paper (lid and box covered separately) and fill it with gifts with €4 to cover cost of transport. Also remember to put an elastic band around each box and decide if you are making the box for a boy or girl and for what age group: 2-4, 5-9, 10-14 years. Suggested items would include skipping rope, small musical instrument, doll, soft toy, finger puppet, colouring book, pencils, felt pens, sharpener/eraser, hair bobbles, toy cars, ball, hat, scarf, gloves, toothbrush and toothpaste, hair brush and comb, small items of clothing – underwear, socks, pyjamas, sunglasses, sweets and jewellery.

Sally Daly in Skibbereen is organising the initiative locally and is available at 028 21546 or 087 6854489 or contact Team Hope at www.teamhope.ie.

If you have any spare soft toys, or other suitable items Sally would be very grateful to receive them as extra fillers for the boxes, particularly football gear.

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