not to contribute to the Shoebox Appeal

[teamboleyn]

because it has a Christian message 'attached'? I have nothing against Christianity but can they not do a charitable act without having an ulterior motive?

www.marysmeals.org.uk/what-you-can-do/backpack-project/

The Mary's Meals backpack project .
Its not tied to Christmas.
Its aim is to get school supplies and modest gifts of play things to children attending schools and receiving a free school meal supported by the Charity Marys meals.

May suit donors living in scotland best to keep transport costs lower.

as an aside, here is an excellent, non-religious alternative for anyone in Manchester/North-West.

My husband is going to Romania in a couple of weeks to distribute shoe boxes for the 3rd year on the trot. We have strong links in our Rotary club with people working with the poor in Romania.

Being poor in these countries is nothing like being "poor" is in the UK. The ghetto where DH works is a shanty town. No water. No electricity. No heating. Houses made from cardboard and old bits of rubbish. No social security. Clothes falling apart. The children who receive the shoeboxes will have nothing else all year. No toys, no other presents, certainly no concept of birthdays. Their parents receive a big bag of rice, a big bag of flour and some other very basic commodities for their Christmas present. For them that is an amazing gift which can mean the difference between life and death for their children.

Those are the sorts of people that the shoeboxes go to. Maybe you'd like to think of the Romanian families tonight that are freezing in the cold with very little to eat and nothing to warm their children up with.

Because obviously your concerns about the shoebox having a religious message on the front, from the comfort of your centrally heated house, watching your television and eating your dinner are so much more important than spreading some joy to children that literally have nothing

And for anyone that wants to be involved with a non-religious shoebox appeal contact your local Rotary club -

www.rotaryshoebox.org/

This thread's made me feel a bit sad (all the Grinch's of the thread's fault, lol } So I've felt the need to go and write a blog post about the Shoebox Appeal and spreading cheer at Christmas, so hopefully more people will want to give to children.

Great post from OhDearSpareHeadTwo as well.

Especially this bit
Because obviously your concerns about the shoebox having a religious message on the front, from the comfort of your centrally heated house, watching your television and eating your dinner are so much more important than spreading some joy to children that literally have nothing

Surely if people are so poor that starvation etc is a real possibility, then shoeboxes full of little toys and so on, while nice, are completely useless?

Better to donate to a charity that tries to help with the fundamental issues. It's not as if there is a shortage of them: Oxfam, UNICEF, Plan, Save the Children, Christian Ad, Cafod, Wateraid...

That should be Christian Aid not Ad

thanks cuckoo, this MN obsession with shoe box appeals really works my nerves. It's easy to pontificate about philosophical issues when you are warm and have a full stomach. Lots of the world's population don't care - they're too busy worrying about where the children's next meal is coming from

Duex
The quote is from here

goingcuckoo and OhDearSpareHeadTwo You can sod off with your appeals to emotion, most people who have said they won't be donating to the appeal have said they'll donate to the non-religious campaign or* another charity. They're still helping people, they're just not doing it through a manipulative evangelical charity.

It's easy to pontificate about philosophical issues when you are warm and have a full stomach. Lots of the world's population don't care - they're too busy worrying about where the children's next meal is coming from

Yes and I bet those shoe boxes full of cheapo plastic toys and crayons taste LOVELY and keep them snug as a bug.

I think the reason that most people are posting on this thread is because they want to give-however they want to make sure that the gift is ethical, useful, environmentally friendly and going to where it is needed. It would also be good if we gave to charities we believe in and do not go against our principles.
Grinch like would be not bothering or giving cheap tat to placate schools/children.

Yes, fundamental issues like WaterAid etc are great, and deserve lots of support, because as you say those are the things that are important and will make the most difference,
The shoeboxes aren't about making the most difference though - that can be done all year round. It's about a child receiving a box full of toys and colouring stuff, sweets etc and if you can't get a nice, sparkly, Christmassy wrapped box of treats at Christmas, then when can you?
Not likely to happen the rest of the year and on a random month, is it. So it's nice to get one at Christmas.
Just because some cynical adults might deem them useless stuff in there, doesn't mean a 5 year old child would.
Mine is always fascinated by the sparkly shoebox and the goods inside, he definitely wouldn't say no to one if it was handed to him!
A box full of sweets, balls and cars? He'd be giddy as anything
To deny a child that happiness is a bit miserable.

Also think that encouraging children to think about responsible giving is a better thing to teach them than mindlessly going with the emotionally manipulative current popular/easy campaign so they feel all warm and fuzzy.

Not obsessed with it at all; I just don't like anything to do with OCC because they are dodgy as fuck.

Other shoebox appeals - well, I think they're totally inefficient, more about the giver than the recipient, & I prefer my direct debit to Plan, but no, I don't worry much about other people's charity donations.

Yes and I bet those shoe boxes full of cheapo plastic toys and crayons taste LOVELY and keep them snug as a bug

Yeah, because that's ALL that's goes into them. Hats, gloves and scarves keep them snug as a bug. What's wrong with a bag of sweets and a teddy for a bit of frivolity and sugar munching?!
Or does it have to ALL be practical?! Practical hugely important, and warm things needed in there. Bit of a boring Christmas box if that's ALL you're allowed in there.
Important part of being a child, is sweet munching and teddy cuddling!

It's perfectly possible to help and offer gifts and charitable assistance without your kindness being hijacked by some Islamaphobic cunt hellbent on brainwashing the vulnerable into following his extremist and unChrustian Christianity.

Not agreeing with the ethics if Ssnaritans Purse doesn't mean you don't want to give. I work year round with a grass roots charity making a huge difference in The Gambia. My shoebox is going to Romania - with no extremist strings attached. So you can fuck off with your faux guilt trips, thank you.

'it's nice to get one at Christmas'

But they are sent to children who don't celebrate Xmas. That's sort of the point of doing them, what with the idea being to make lots of little converts.

FWIW, I haven't done an OCC shoebox this year, but I have given money to a similar scheme overseas, a child gets a useful/present box.

We already sponsor two children in Africa directly (who we have visited and taken DC1 to see), and a third via school, so in saying "no" to OCC, my conscience remains clear!

If anyone wants to sponsor a child, I recommend S.O.S. Children's villages, having seen their excellent work in person.

I don't think I'm getting it. Surely if a child opens a shoebox, from any organisation, it will bring a smile to his / her face? Isn't that the main point? I'm not religious but it they want to put a little religious booklet or whatever in the box does it really matter? Besides it is christmas after all. No school is forcing anyone to do it, if you don't want to for whatever reason then don't. Having seen the clips of children recieving these boxes from operation Christmas child and the joy they get I will be making them again this year with my kids.

Goingcuckoo - in this country yes, children might feel deprived if they didn't get some wrapped-up sparkly tat at Christmas. But in most of the places where these boxes are going, the Western European idea of Christmas is completely alien. They may not celebrate it at all, or do it in a different way, or at a different time (eg Orthodox Christmas is not on Dec 25th).

And feel free to correct me if you have proof to the contrary, but I have read that a lot of the time the OCC boxes are not distributed at Christmas at all - they are saved until the local churches are ready to launch their evangelical campaign, which could be mid-summer.

And hear hear to trockodile on getting children to think about charity and what is really helping people, rather than succumbing to peer pressure.

goingcuckoo Did I say that was all that went into them? If people are so concerned about where their child's next meal is coming from, I'm pretty sure they'd be more appreciative of donation to the likes of Save the Children, Care International and the Red Cross that provide children with food, medicine and shelter (which I donate to every month, despite being a heartless bitch who refuses to donate to an evangelical charity) than a shoe box full of toys and sweets.

WelshMaenad EXACTLY.

Big wheel - if you've read the rest of the thread and the links you'll know it's not about one little little leaflet: the boxes are used in a high-pressure American evangelical programme whose sole aim is to convert children to their form of Christianity.

But they are sent to children who don't celebrate Xmas.
Yes, because they're sent to everyone regardless of beliefs. People would soon be moaning if they were sent to ONLY people who celebrated Christmas now, wouldn't they?!
Seems they can't win.

in this country yes, children might feel deprived if they didn't get some wrapped-up sparkly tat at Christmas. But in most of the places where these boxes are going, the Western European idea of Christmas is completely alien. They may not celebrate it at all, or do it in a different way, or at a different time (eg Orthodox Christmas is not on Dec 25th).
A box of toys is a box of toys when it comes to being a child. They won't give a shiny, sparkly shit about any religion behind it. All they'll care about is receiving nice things.
Just because you think it's tat, doesn't mean a small child will.
They don't HAVE to convert to receive, everyone gets one.