Pledges for the Santa Shoebox Project opened on 1 September. Under this year’s theme of “Share the Love”, donors will have the option to duplicate an item in their box – enabling the beneficiary child to gift that item to a friend or family member.
Typically, Santa Shoeboxes contain a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, a facecloth, school supplies, a toy, sweets and an outfit of clothing. This year, in addition to the duplicate item provided by the public, Book Dash, which creates African storybooks that anyone can freely download and distribute, will be including two books – one for the recipient and the other for them to gift to someone else. This amplifies the sharing, because a book is meant to be read together, either with a friend or by a parent or teacher.
Since 2006 the project has reached 1 077 289 children throughout South Africa and Namibia, thanks to the generosity of its donors.