Anyone been part of the shoebox appeal team?

[Disabrie22]

I’ve just made the usual charity shoe box appeal boxes with the children and I’m curious about who gets them and how the process of giving them out works? I know there’s various critiques but I remember someone coming on here who worked for them - but I can’t remember what they said. Anyone part of the process?

No but which appeal was this? Not operation Christmas child was it?

Samaritans purse, operation Christmas child?

I refused to do them.... So can't help probably.

Totally useless for you I know

I think just doing something because without thought is something to think about !
Interesting article from Baptist news on alternatives. It s us but same principle...
Think local.
Your kids could wrap a gift for a specific child at your local scheme ..they do one in my local shopping centre the age of chikd is stated. Or local refuge.
baptistnews.com/article/10-alternatives-operation-christmas-child/#.W_Cv68mnzqA

“So often, the church makes generosity synonymous with the free giving of stuff, but it’s not. I’ve seen Westerners come in and drop off a whole bunch of stuff — toys, free food, tons of clothes. Typically it’s not useful, they’re paying way too much for overseas shipping and suddenly the local food or clothing vendors don’t make their living for the week, and those are important jobs for struggling communities.”

We did it for the first time this year. I did the bar code thing so I can find out where it’s gone. I thought it seemed a really good idea.

baptistnews.com/article/stuffing-shoe-boxes-for-the-worlds-poor-maybe-you-should-reconsider/#.W_CxbsmnzqB

P.s. I have no problem with anyone choosing to do the shoebox if you so wish but do so with thought and having been fully informed. Find out the costs of shipping and barcoding.

There are various appeals going on at the moment which are rather more ethical than Operation Christmas Child, which is simply a propaganda scam run by racist shitbags.

I do women's refuge shoeboxes. They go to a charity that has storage for them and they get dished out from there because the locations of refuges are kept secret.

Please do consider the cost and carbon footprint of shipping halfway across the world shoeboxes containing items that could be bought locally, interspersed with a whole lot of air.

This is a good list of alternatives available in the UK humanism.org.uk/humanism/humanism-today/humanists-doing/good-causes-and-charities/samaritans-purse/

I wouldn't touch OCC with a bargepole now I know about its views and tactics.

“Please do consider the cost and carbon footprint of shipping halfway across the world shoeboxes containing items that could be bought locally, interspersed with a whole lot of air.”

This. Even people who are happy with the hideous ethics should be brought up short by the environmental impact, and the waste of resources.

My son's school encouraged pupils to take part in OCC last year. We spent a fortune on items for the box, did the barcode thing so that we could find out where it had gone, and both my children and my DH volunteered at one of the depots.

Months later, we had an email saying they weren't able to tell us where the box had been sent, which cheesed me off, and this year the school hasn't mentioned OCC at all, presumably in light of the recent negative publicity.

They go to a far-right, evangelical American Christian charity that uses them to try to pressure kids (who may well be Muslim/Hindu) to convert to Christianity. They also use them to spread an anti-gay message.

They’re not ‘spreading the spirit of Christmas to children in poverty’ - what they’re really doing is attempting to spread it their extreme branch of Christianity to kids who aren’t Christian and don’t even celebrate Christmas.

humanism.org.uk/2017/10/19/humanists-uk-warns-schools-and-parents-about-evangelical-christmas-shoebox-appeal/

We did it for the first time this year. I did the bar code thing so I can find out where it’s gone. I thought it seemed a really good idea

I did it several times too before I realised how horrific it really was.

A) it’s a pretty inefficient way of giving charity.
B) the kids given the boxes often aren’t Christian, so don’t need generous westerners giving them Christmas presents!
C) OCC put extremist Christian material in the shoeboxes, including homophobic messages.

I did 4 for the local homeless refuge last Christmas. Walked them down there and handed them out myself so low carbon footprint. They were for men with addiction issues so cash not suitable alternative. New underwear, socks, gloves, smellies, chocolate, torch, etc....Wrapped up in nice paper.

A friend of mine organises this in the north. They drop off at the local homeless shelter so low carbon footprint. They do human and dogs ones.

I organise a 'Christmas box' appeal for my school. We wrap big cardboard boxes, fill them full of food, toiletries and hats and gloves and donate them to a local food bank.
Still the same idea but we know that there isn't anything dodgy going on with pushing religion, reducing local wages.

I donate £15 to the local foodbank so people can get a Christmas dinner and donate to local toy appeal.

Why would anyone refuse to do it, so Scroogely

@littlemeitslyn read the thread, loads of reasons

I used to have a lot of time for the rucksack project, but it disbanded due to various issues. I think I’m going to put together some bits and bobs for the food bank this year instead.

This year some of our local pubs have collection points for socks for a local homeless shelter. You get a hiking-type warm sock and inside you put the other sock and items like gloves, comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, other toiletries, chocolate.

I used to live in a country where the shoe boxes arrived.
I was part of a local church that received them an distributed them. (I was not involved)

I don't do them