Tag Archives: Team Hope

MORE hands are needed to help Clare Youth Service pack shoeboxes in their efforts to contribute to Team Hope’s shoebox appeal that assists vulnerable young people in Africa and Eastern Europe this Christmas. The shoeboxes will be filled with items for personal use such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap and hairbrushes as well clothing items such as socks, gloves and hats. Boxes will be specifically designed for different age groups. The young people will be putting the shoeboxes together on Friday, October 29 at 2pm in the Ennis Youth Centre on Carmody Street. If you can lend a hand to help wrap some shoeboxes, get in contact with youth worker Jorien on 085 804 1633 or csprojects@clareyouthservice.org. and help spread the joy.

WEST Clare mother Josipa Akinradewo knows only too well the joy that the Team Hope annual Christmas Shoebox Appeal can bring. As a young girl living in Croatia while her father fought in its War of Independence she was one of those to receive a precious gift from a stranger overseas. That experience stayed with her, and now preparing a shoebox for others has become an annual tradition she shares with her own children. This year because of Covid-19 the experience will be very different, with people being asked to build a ‘virtual box’ online to be given to children in need in Africa and Eastern Europe. However, this has not taken away the spirit of the initiative which has brightened the lives of so many, and Josipa is encouraging others to get involved. Josipa, her husband and two children have been living in Ireland for five years. A year after their arrival her son brought home a leaflet about …

Families, schools, community groups and businesses across County Clare are being asked to get involved in this year’s Team Hope Shoebox Appeal campaign, with the aim to reach a target of 200,000 shoeboxes. Speaking at the launch, Niall Barry, Team Hope executive director, said, “Poverty and need is on the increase every year in the countries we visit and we see at first-hand that our Christmas shoeboxes help bring joy, laughter and hope to children living on the margins of society, victims of war, disease or poverty.” To get involved, simply fill a shoebox with gifts for a child, and bring it to any of the drop-off points in the county before Tuesday, November 10. Suggestions for what can be put in the shoeboxes include pens, pencils, colouring books, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, a small item of clothing and a treat. In the receiving country, Team Hope’s network of partners delivers the shoebox gifts right into a child’s hands,­ in hospitals, schools, …

Over 4,500 Team Hope Christmas shoeboxes, filled with gifts for needy children in Ukraine, will be leaving Ennis this evening (Tuesday). Over the past three weeks schools, businesses, factories and individuals throughout the county have put together the shoeboxes which were packaged at Elevation Business Park, Clonroad, Ennis. “We have packed all these boxes into cartons to be loaded onto a lorry this evening. There will be 489 cartons to put onto the lorry, which are filled with 4,561 shoeboxes to get to needy children in Ukraine before Christmas,” said Margaret Angland, Clare coordinator for Team Hope.

In the countdown to Christmas, the Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal has moved online, so that those who failed to meet the deadline can now participate at the click of a button. All you have to do is go to www.teamhope.ie where you can donate a shoebox on line, decide whether you’d like your gift to be for a boy, a girl or both and Team Hope will do the rest. Niall Barry, Team Hope executive director, said, ‘Our new online shoebox is a great idea for anyone who hasn’t had the time to go shopping, can’t get out, or just never got round to it. Our team in Kenya will use the money donated to create a Christmas gift (just like the ones we do here) and give it to a needy child.”

THE annual Team Hope Shoebox Appeal has, as usual, received phenomenal support in Clare, particularly from children, who are embracing the concept of sharing with those who have very little. Schools, families, communities and businesses across the county have helped bring great hope at Christmas to more than 4,000 needy children in disadvantaged areas overseas. By taking part in the 2013  appeal, they have turned just another day in a child’s life into something special in Africa, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In total, 163,513 shoeboxes were collected throughout Ireland. According to Niall Barry, Team Hope executive director, receiving the shoeboxes from Ireland is the highlight of the children’s year. In the receiving country the Team Hope network of partners are currently delivering the shoebox gifts right into a child’s hands ­ in hospitals, schools, shelters, churches, orphanages, community centres or family homes.