A LEADING Evesham charity is appealing for residents to take part in its ‘Christmas Shoebox Appeal’ to help impoverished children in Eastern Europe.
Teams4U, a charity encouraging people to fill shoeboxes with stocking fillers for Romanian, Belarusian and Bosnian orphans, is looking for new volunteers and supporters to help give youngsters a Christmas to remember.
The Midcounties Co-operative has kindly allowed the charity to continue using its warehouse facility on Davies Road, where Bob James, Evesham area co-ordinator and his warehouse team will store the shoeboxes until they make their way to Eastern Europe this Christmas.
Residents are encouraged to find an unwanted old shoebox, wrap it in Christmas paper and fill it with simple gifts, before adding the £2.50 donation to cover transport and distribution costs and delivering it to the warehouse.
Gifts can include educational and hygiene supplies such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, stationery, puzzles, gloves, hats, scarves, plastic utensils and soap.
A team of volunteers will also be travelling out to Romania to help with one of the distributions.
The charity, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, has expanded in several countries to support various projects through partnerships with local individuals and organisations.
Mr James said: “‘Real people making a real difference’ is the tag line for Teams4U, so we’re hoping many local residents will make a difference this year.
“Making a shoebox is so easy, so go on, find one, stash it under your bed or in a cupboard and buy one item each week to put in it. You’ll soon see it filling up and by November it’ll be ready to bring a child some untold joy.”
Dave Cooke, founder of Teams4U said: “I set up the charity because I wanted to give people the opportunity to help and to give more than just money.
“Teams4U is more than just teams. Teams help connect people to projects, however we’re also committed to working alongside our partners to develop real sustainable solutions for the future.”
Visit www.teams4u.com or e-mail [email protected] for more information.
