A GIFT OF HOPE
Claurentine Tongo queueing up with her Christmas shoebox of gifts for needy children at Scoil Ghobnatan, Mallow, last Friday, where pupils filled a Team Hope van with over 480 shoeboxes.
LAST Thursday, 9th November, was a very special day for the children of Scoil Ghobnatan in Mallow when Team Hope arrived to collect shoeboxes from all the children.
An amazing 487 shoeboxes were collected!
What did the children in Scoil Ghobnatan put into their shoeboxes? Firstly children got an average sized shoebox and wrapped it in Christmas wrapping paper (box and lid separately). They then chose a boy or a girl to receive the box and the age (2-4, 5-9 or 10-14 years old). Children then filled the shoebox with gift items, trying to include the 4 W’s in their box ( Wash, Wear, Write & Wow!).
The response was amazing! To see all the children in the school bringing their shoeboxes out to the Team Hope van was really heart warming.
Mr Walsh introduced each class and spoke to their children about the tremendous good work they had done to make some children in other countries very happy. The Team Hope co-ordinator for the area, Sarah Janman, also spoke and thanked the children: ‘ Thank you all for making Christmas very special for some boys and girls’.
Shoeshops in Mallow town, including O’Flynn’s, Lyon’s, McSweeney’s and Schooz were very supportive. Teachers in Scoil Ghobnatan collected shoeboxes from these shops and brought them to school for the children to take home.
These particular shoeboxes will be going to many needy children in Ukraine and Kosovo. Boxes travel in 40-foot containers and take an average of three weeks to get to their destination. At the destination local leaders distribute them to needy children in schools, community centres, churches, orphanages, hospitals or poor homes.
Last year Team Hope collected 212, 002 shoeboxes and their aim this year is to reach 240,000 shoeboxes.
There was a fantastic atmosphere among all the children and teachers as each class was welcomed in turn onto the yard where they handed over their shoebox to the Team Hope van. Even the schools caretaker, Tony Sheehan, got into the spirit of things, dressing up as a shoebox!! He nearly went away in the Team Hope van but eventually returned as the children would miss him too much!
Scoil Ghobnatan would sincerely like to thank all the parents for participating in such a worthy cause. A lot of work goes into wrapping a shoebox and then filling it but knowing that each shoebox will make Christmas so special for some children is a reward in itself. In giving we receive.