STOP PRESS.........

Remember Gerard with that first carton packed?.......
and how lonely it looked? Well..... we are happy to report that Monday (our first day) we received 979 shoeboxes and checked an incredible 738 of them. Gerard and his team now have cartons mounting up, just a few guys managed to keep up with all the checkers and pack all the boxes into cartons. Well done guys.

Something Special

Each and every day we are reminded of how kind and thoughtful people are and every day something extra special happens. Today a card was found in a beautifully packed shoebox. The card was lovely, but what made this card so special was what the donor had written inside. So special that we had to put the card and box aside so that during our lunch break it could be read out to everyone. A photo was taken so it could be shared with everyone.

We are trying to get a translation into Russian so that the recipient (just in case an interpreter is not there) can see how much love there is in a box.

Today also saw our first school visit, a class from  Pond Meadow school, a school with children who  have special needs. They brought in their own shoeboxes and they were very excited indeed. They had a tour of the warehouse and loved all the boxes full of gifts. They loved the filler tables and thought Michael Grew's jigsaw puzzles and trains were fantastic.

One of them said he deserves a gold medal, too right!! They even helped unload a van which arrived during their visit, very exciting indeed.
It was only one class who participated in Operation Christmas Child this year but so taken were they by what we do that next year the whole school is going to join in. We have been invited to work with them through the year to raise awareness and help them to understand the concept of a fair box.

Again this year we have some fantastic fillers for the boxes which we need in case a box is not the fair box we want the child to receive.

A whole section led by Gill and her team turn a pile of bags and boxes, that have been kindly donated by our volunteers, into an organised area where each item is placed in areas so that our checkers can pick the right item needed.  A huge task.

Ian and Di who are very experienced in dealing with our special boxes, boxes that may need some attention have commented on how good the boxes have been this year and that they have had little work to do. Maybe tomorrow we can feature them......