Bunclody TY Students Show their Caring Side
Monday 16th November saw the culmination of the Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal at FCJ Secondary School Bunclody when 1349 Christmas shoeboxes were delivered to the Wexford depot from which they will be packed on to a lorry destined for Eastern Europe.
There is a long tradition of involvement in the Christmas shoebox appeal at FCJ Secondary School Bunclody. Each year the Transition year students take on the role of co-ordinating the project under the guidance of Sr. Madeleine Hayes (FCJ) and Ms. Una Osborne (T.Y. co-ordinator). In the current year over fifty students participated in this project.
Next month millions of children over the world will be preparing for Christmas and the coming of Santa Claus. Families gather to celebrate the greatest gift of all, the gift of a baby born in a stable. It is a time of being together and for the children of great excitement, giving and getting love and presents from family and friends. But for many children across Europe Christmas Day is like any other day in the year. Nothing special just a struggle to get through the day, with temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius. There are no warm fires, no trees, no Christmas pudding, no Christmas presents just struggling to get through. It is a bleak, cold day, with little hope for the future.
Irish charity, Team Hope has made a practical response to the plight of needy children. Inspired by the Gospel stories of helping others, Team Hope is a Christian relief and development organisation that specialises in meeting the needs of victims of war, poverty, natural disaster and disease while sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. It provides critically needed aid such as food, water, clothing, shelter and medical care, all in Christ’s name. The charity has been supported by top Irish sporting personalities like Katie Taylor and Paul O’Connell. This year about two million shoeboxes filled with Christmas presents will go from Ireland and Britain mainly to the former Eastern Europe region.
As fifteen/ sixteen year olds the majority of our Transition Year group grew up with the Christmas shoe box appeal. In early October lists were compiled of all of the primary schools that our TY students had attended. We then set about contacting these schools and inviting them to participate in the Christmas Shoebox Appeal with FCJ.
Students from FCJ co-ordinate the delivery of information leaflets to these schools and the collection of completed shoeboxes. Students in our own school were also invited to donate a shoe box/gift.
The beauty of this project lies in its simplicity – a gift from one child to another.
This project would not be possible without the help and support of so many, and to that end we thank school management and staff of FCJ Bunclody, school management and staff of participating schools, parents who have provided transport, FCJ students, Sr. Madeleine Hayes FCJ, David Raleigh, Liam Martin, Liam Kavanagh, Ivan Byrne (transport of boxes to Wexford depot) and Lorna Burt (Co-ordinator – Wexford depot). But above all we thank all those who so generously donated Christmas shoebox gifts. Your gift will make a difference.
Ursuline College Sligo
Christmas Shoe Box Appeal
The annual Operation Christmas Shoe Box Campaign was once again a huge success in Ursuline College, Sligo. Students from all year groups brought in shoe boxes for boys and girls in developing countries. A total of 185 boxes were collected. This was a fantastic response and a huge thank you to all involved.
The First Year students had a talk from Carol Hennessey from Team Hope which is responsible for co-ordinating the Shoe Box Appeal in Ireland. Carol shared videos and pictures of the children receiving their presents and this touched the hearts of all of our first years. It gave them a deep appreciation of just how fortunate they are. Team hope is an organisation dependent on volunteers and so we thank Carol for her inspirational talk.
Salerno Shoe Boxes Collection surpasses the Target
A huge thank you to all staff, students and parents that took time to fill a shoebox with Christmas gifts for the Christmas Shoebox Appeal. The total amount of shoeboxes collected was an amazing 287 boxes, which surpassed our target of 250. The Christmas Shoeboxes will be delivered by Team Hope, an Irish development aid charity, to children across Eastern Europe and Africa. Although a shoebox won’t change everything, it will do far more than we could ever imagine, by bringing Christmas to children who have never experienced anything like it before.
