Naas Enterprise Park Supports Shoe Box Appeal

Irish national charity Team Hope, who are best known for their Christmas Shoebox Appeal, are packing all the deliveries from supporters all over south Kildare into an Industrial Unit in Naas Enterprise Park which was kindly donated to the charity for use during the campaign by the park management company and organised by their local property agents O’Neill & Co. The location is one of 25 depots which receive deliveries from drop off points and schools around the country. The charity hope to pack over 850 boxes which will contain up to 10 shoe boxes each in this warehouse. The total of shoe boxes donated to date in this area alone is over 7000. Frank O’Rourke TD was on hand this in the unit morning to help raise awareness for the campaign.

The Christmas Shoebox Appeal which was launched on TV3 in October has been running since the late 1990’s and over three and a half million shoeboxes have been sent from Ireland! Team Hope are appealing for individuals, schools, community groups, shops, offices and businesses to get involved and fill a shoebox with a range of simple Christmas gifts either for a boy or a girl in age brackets from 2-4, 5-9 and 10-14 years old and drop off at designated points including Kildare.

Then a team of volunteers work hard to check that all Christmas Shoeboxes meet with customs and safety requirements,  seal them and send them on their way by truck or shipping container. The international partners will then deliver the shoebox right into a child’s hands – in hospitals, schools, shelters, churches, orphanages, community centres, mountain villages and family homes.

Brendan McKenna Volunteer Coordinator said ‘Securing this unit has been a huge help to the Kildare branch of the campaign, it is always great to get support from local companies which enable us to help others”

Team Hope give the Christmas Shoebox gift right into the hands of some of the world’s most vulnerable children – many of whom will receive no other gift this Christmas. For some it’s the first gift they’ve ever received.

Darac O’Neill Director of O’Neill & Co. said ‘We are delighted to help out such a fantastic campaign on a local level, it is great to see so many people get involved to help those less fortunate then ourselves.’

Team Hope is an Irish, Christian development aid charity, working with children, and through them, into their families and communities mainly across Eastern Europe, former Soviet Union and Africa many of these families are trying to survive on less than €1 a day,  the charity also help vulnerable children all year round through a variety of Community Development projects,

If you would like to help out and volunteer with the team in Naas Enterprise Park please contact Volunteer Coordinator Brendan McKenna by emailing brendanmckenna1@gmail.com or by calling 087-2253333.