Barker Insurance

The GIFT of Giving – SANTA SHOEBOX


Gift
The festive season can bring with it a paradox of emotions, from joy and happiness for some, to sadness and loneliness for others. Members of the Barker Insurance Brokers team opened their hearts by taking part in the inspiring community initiative called The Kidz2Kidz Santa Shoebox Project. The goal was to collect uniquely personalized Christmas gifts for underprivileged youth and distribute them to children who may have never received a Christmas gift before.  

Kim, our BIB Santa helper, encouraged all BIB members to get involved in the Project, with regular updates and reminders to make sure we all got our boxes in on time. She then collected the gifts and was responsible for organizing the drop offs at the relevant facilities. The shoe boxes were filled with necessary items such as a wash cloth, and bar of soap, item/s of clothing, educational item, a toy, sweets and anything additional that one would like to add. These were not just any random gifts however, as we were able to select a name, age, gender and residence of the child the gift was intended for. This personal touch was extremely important in helping the child feel special and unique in their own right. The shoe boxes were also creatively wrapped and decorated as the child will be keeping the shoebox as a keepsake.

The Santa Shoebox project was formed in 2006 and is run entirely by volunteers, with approximately 350 different facilities which they support; including foster homes, shelters for children, support centre’s and pre-schools. If you would like to volunteer some of your time and expertise please visitwww.santashoebox.co.za – the project also encourages parents to involve their kids so as to teach them the joy of giving!
 

Well done to all those at BIB who took part in this important community initiative.

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.  ~Anne Frank