Masicorp volunteers and the staff of several pre-school’s in Masiphumelele were recently on hand to help The Santa’s Shoebox Project distribute gifts to the local children. The Santa Shoebox Project originated in Cape Town in 2006 and is an initiative of the Kidz2Kidz Trust that encourages children to give away toys they no longer play with. Santa’s ShoeBox has subsequently grown to become one of South Africa’s most successful charities.

The concept is simple. Anyone who wants to donate can log onto their website, nominate a child or children they want to benefit, fill a shoebox, wrap it and drop it off at a designated location. The boxes are distributed to more than 1000 recipient facilities around South Africa and Namibia. Donors are encouraged to pack their boxes with a mixture of toys, learning materials such as books and crayons, and toiletries such as toothpaste and soap.

From humble beginnings – just 600 boxes pledged in 2006 – the project now distributes over 100,000 shoeboxes. Here are some images from this year’s drop-off at three pre-schools in Masiphumelele. The Santa’s Shoebox Project volunteers nominated three pre-schools and Masicorp helped collect the children’s names to ensure they received appropriate gifts, and then helped the project to distribute the shoeboxes.

Ithembe Pre-School

Masincedisane Pre-School

Siyaqoba Pre-School

Thank you to everyone at The Santa’s Shoebox Project and to all of the donors who have made this possible.