A Newspaper Group in Lincolnshire, which produces papers in towns throughout south Lincolnshire, supported the Rotary Shoebox Scheme for the first time at Christmas 2005. They had such a good response from their readers, collecting our special flat-pack boxes at the newspaper office where they returned them when filled, that they ran the scheme again this last Christmas. The first time they filled 2,000 boxes. This time, extending the scheme to a total of nine towns as far down as Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, they filled 3,000 boxes.

They were then keen to follow this up by having some actual feedback for their readers as boxes were delivered to Eastern Europe. They decide to send one of their reporters out there to see the distribution at first hand and had so many willing volunteers from staff members they had to hold a draw. Young reporter Helen Bell from the Skegness Office was the winner and she duly flew out to Bucharest after first visiting out main Warehouse in Preston, to get a feel for the way the boxes are collected in and then loaded onto lorries to begin their long journey.
The following is part of her account, which appeared in full in a two-page spread in each of the Groups Newspapers in early February.

I arrived at Bucharest airport to begin my four days in Romania and was met by Rtn Liviu Statache from the Rotary Club of Iasi, a town in north-east Romania. Stanislav Marchitan, who I was to stay with and who showed me a ‘locals’ view of Iasi; and journalism student Andrea Archip, also met me.
Liviu drove us all the way up to Iasi from where, during the following days, we made several trips to the surrounding areas delivering your Shoebox gifts.
As I entered a school, the children burst into song. This was becoming a familiar event as I visited schools. I was treated like an honoured guest with the children standing to attention, singing their hearts out, reciting poetry and offering me bread dipped in salt, a traditional Romanian welcome. I expected the children to tear open their boxes whooping and laughing as they opened their presents. So imagine my surprise when they all seemed overwhelmed, and after receiving their box would sit shyly staring at their box, not knowing if they should open it. I was touched by their disbelief at receiving such a gift. It was as if they were expecting someone to realise their mistake and take it away from them at any moment.

The schools close to Iasi were poor but not too desperate with basic equipment but as we travelled to more remote villages I was shocked with the conditions. These are the ‘forgotten’ villages were they are desperately poor. The children and even the teachers do not know any English although city children learn English from an early age. These village children were dressed in odd outfits of hand-me-down clothes and rough woollens. I discovered one little boy with 14 brothers and sisters all sharing one room. But at least he was at school; some are not educated at all.
In the city there are some three storey modern homes but between these are traditional style tiny bungalows. There are modern cars but also many very basic Romanian-made vehicles, which are very dangerous. It also seemed strange to see little handmade wooden carts being pilled along the main streets of the city by worn our horses.
The roads in the city are wide and there is a new shopping mall. Status is very important to many living in Iasi and they go to the mall just to be seen even if they cannot afford what is on offer. The villages just outside Iasi are another world with no running water and unsurfaced dirt roads.

The Shoebox appeal clearly makes a difference to these children and the delight on their faces was obvious. These children have very little and it was wonderful to be involved in such a treat.

Helen Bell

The Rotary Shoebox Scheme is not just for Christmas!

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