Four Medway and Maidstone Soroptimists volunteered for 193 hours at the Blythswood London and South East England Shoebox Collection Point in Gillingham. They were working with other volunteers between 28 October and 11 December checking, packaging more than 10500 shoeboxes into cartons for transporting to Albania and Kosovo in time for Christmas.
There are 6 Collection Points across the UK and in 2024 more than 85,000 gift-wrapped and gift-filled shoeboxes have been sent to people in need across eight Eastern European countries.. It’s nearly three years since war broke out in Ukraine. More than a third of Blythswood’s boxes went to Ukraine where there is much sorrow, fatigue and losses.
Our club has been involved with supporting the Christmas Shoebox Appeal for more than 20 years. The Blythswood Chief Executive Jeremy Ross expressed his gratitude to all the volunteers:
‘At a time when many families are struggling to pay bills at home, it’s testimony to how generous people can be to those in greater need . I want to thank everyone who filled a box and everyone who helped with the process. Your kindness really makes a difference to people living in hardship.’
