Students and teachers at the International School of the Algarve in Lagoa welcomed Gill Rhodes, local representative of the British charity Samaritan’s Purse, to the school on October 26 to present her with donations for the ‘Operation Christmas Child’.
The international campaign has been held annually since 1990 and delivers decorated shoe boxes filled with gifts to children in underprivileged communities in Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
“Each shoebox means a smile on a child’s face,” said Gill Rhodes. “Many of the children receiving these boxes have never had a Christmas present before.”
The Shoe Box Appeal ran until October 31, the date on which shoe boxes began their journey to the UK from where they will be delivered to the children selected in the campaign. Shoe boxes collected in Portugal will go to communities in Romania, Bosnia and Croatia.
In 2011, Operation Christmas Child collected 1,361 shoe boxes in the region, with the International School of the Algarve contributing 193 boxes.
This year, students gathered in the gym and created a Christmas tree with the stacked boxes, which totalled more than 100, filled with toys, clothes, games, pencils, pens and books.
www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk
|| 8th annual shoebox drive for the elderly
Castelo dos Sonhos charity based in Silves supports more than 200 elderly in need living in the area.
This Christmas the charity hopes to provide them with a better Christmas and is again planning the 8th annual shoebox drive for the elderly.
To help in the campaign, members of the community are asked to donate shoeboxes containing some of the following items: for example, shampoo, soap, bath gel, hairbrush, woolly hat, gloves, scarves, socks, hankies, tights, sewing kit, torches, tea towels, sweets, cakes or small ornaments. Do not include medicines.
All boxes should be labelled for man or woman and items should be packed carefully.
Shoeboxes should be delivered to Castelo dos Sonhos in Silves or the Holiday Inn Algarve in Armação de Pêra between November 15 and December 1.
282 332 665 | dacemoss@sapo.pt (Celia Mossman)
