If not Christmas child then what?

[Fueledwithfairydustandgin]

I wanted to do a couple of the Christmas child boxes but am a bit put off after reading about them on here but I've tried to find something similar and I'm struggling. There's the link to hope boxes which I've just found and I think I will do a couple but I don't like that it's not really about the children (not gender or age specific), I'm going to do a couple of Mary's meals backpacks in the summer because it's not a Christmas thing so that way I can afford to do a few boxes at Christmas then backpacks in the summer.

We do the shoeboxes exactly the same as the Christmas child ones but give them to the Rotary club instead who have their own appeal. If you email them or phone them they will tell you where your nearest drop off is. In our case, they even collect them from our house

Why what is wrong with Christmas child?

Because of it's Christian association which requires a service to be attended etc.

Nothing but trying to take advantage of the poor and vulnerable for their own indoctrination.

www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/

OP - this might be suitable?:

convoyaidromania.com/page7.htm

We donate via Barnados and pick a Christmas gift type thing via there website. Last year it varied from a day out to a winter coat.

How about donating some extra nice food via a local food bank?

In the past I have given toys to a local women's refuge.

or might be something on here?:

humanism.org.uk/humanism/humanism-today/humanists-doing/good-causes-and-charities/samaritans-purse/

Does your local shopping centre have a gift tree? Ours does where a child's details are on a bauble on a tree (age, gender) and you buy an appropriate present and give it in to the centre's info desk. Or have you tried a local hospice?

I usually donate to the Salvation Army Christmas present appeal . Donating to a food bank sounds like a good idea too .

Come December, John Lewis usually has an online Christmas gift list (like a wedding gift list) for children and their mums who are going to be spending Christmas Day in a women's refuge. Prices started at £4 for last year. Obviously, for children, it's not quite the same as filling a shoebox but it's still cool to select stuff.

Wow thanks lots of ideas to look at

We've sent to Mary's meals in the past. The back pack idea is a really good one and the kids enjoyed doing g it.