The
Scheme Originally started in District
1280 in 1994, the Rotary Shoebox Scheme was then intended
to provide children of Iasi, in north-east Romania with
Christmas gifts. Since then, the scheme has become an RIBI
International Project and every District in RIBI is involved
in this popular Scheme.
Gifts are now sent out throughout
the year to many different countries in Central and
Eastern Europe. Toys are especially useful all year round
for Birthday presents in the Orphanages, Homes and Hospitals.
All age groups, including teenagers, have welcomed the
boxes.
In addition to Romania, Shoebox
gifts have been delivered to Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria,
Albania, Croatia and Kosovo.
Each year we now send around
60,000 Shoeboxes or gifts. SEE
RECENT DELIVERIES
The strengths of the Rotary
Shoebox Scheme over other similar schemes are:
1 It
operates all year round.
2 The
boxes are distributed to known contacts
3 We
can guarantee that every Shoebox goes to a deserving
child or family.
The boxes now travel either
overland by lorry, or by sea container. We use the services
of International
Aid Trust (IAT), a Christian Charity who
have a long association with Rotary in the north-west of
England and who help with both Transportation and Warehouse
storage.
Distribution
is always through known contacts.
We are officially tied in
with Hope & Homes and regularly supply their foster
homes with boxes of gifts.
Spurgeons Child
Care have
been involved with the scheme since its inception and we
deliver to their many children’s homes throughout Romania
on a regular basis.
The Rotary Club of Iasi are
also regular distributors for us to Orphanages and Children’s
Hospitals in the area.
IAT also have some children’s
homes and camps in Belarus and Ukraine where we deliver.
Have you
tried it yet?
The Shoebox Scheme is easy
for clubs to operate and ultimately fulfils the Rotary
ethic of individual time involvement. By visiting schools
or youth groups to collect the filled boxes, there is an
opportunity to address the children about how and to whom
the boxes will be delivered. A short explanation of Rotary
can easily be slotted in.
The advantage with the scheme
is that it can be both a geography and social lesson for
the children. However, the main advantage is that it can
be a positive way for ‘Children to Help Children.’
Leon MacLeod
PR Rotary Shoebox Scheme |