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http://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child
Belinda has ‘persuaded’ me to get out my Marathon running shoes out again (definitely for the last time!!!) to help raise money for Samaritans Purse, the Shoebox charity that takes up 4 months of her life each year ….as she runs the North Beds district on a voluntary basis ....
Guess what? We’d like a small amount of your money….
So the request is - I run the Dublin Marathon on 26th Oct and we are asking you to send a small donation (cheque, cash or transfer to the North Beds Samaritans Purse account - details below).
In return you can follow my blog (and more interestingly) the Shoebox blog that Belinda will instruct me to update…. And also help some of the 10,000 or so kids who will get one of Belinda’s team’s shoeboxes to have a unique experience this Christmas.
Last year her team – all volunteers - sent over 5,000 filled Shoeboxes to under-privileged children in Kiev – they were only able to do this with the enormous support of many volunteers who helped us collect, check and package every single box. Bedford Council loaned a 10,000 sq ft. warehouse and many, many people donated their time, money & filler items to once again make the project a success – success measured by the difference that a simple present filled box made to over 5,000 kids. Follow the link above for lots more detail on the project.
The boxes are filled by children and adults at schools, churches, clubs, and businesses and are then collected, checked and sorted by the team – a very time consuming task!
Most of the boxes are brilliant – filled with things to wear, to cuddle, to wash with, to draw and to play with.
The team add small ‘fillers’ such as toothbrushes, soap, pencils, bags, cuddly toys and a wide range of other items to make the box as much fun and use to the child as possible.
These ‘fillers’ are mostly donated (bought!) by the volunteers – a considerable expense and so this year we are trying to raise money so that we can invest in a stock of fillers.
So Please, Please help and Thanks a million!
Ed & Belinda
Cheques payable to: Operation Christmas Child (N Beds)
Address: The Old School House, High Street, Swineshead, MK44 2AA
Direct Transfer: Barclays, Peterborough, PE1 1XE
Sort Code: 20-74-81
Account Number: 83833003