Christmas Shoebox Project gives purpose and joy to residents

3:30

Ryman residents around New Zealand have embraced the Catalytic Foundation’s Christmas Shoebox Project yet again, meaning more than 1200 children will receive something special this Christmas.

The initiative seeks to support struggling Kiwi families who are going without some of life’s necessities every day.

Using gift cards provided by Ryman, residents gathered, brainstormed and set out on multiple shopping trips to provide a range of thoughtful items to fill specially wrapped boxes.

At Keith Park Village, the residents (pictured above) took the project particularly seriously.

“We tried to think ‘outside the box’ and arranged a planning session to fine tune the shopping trip,” said Village Lifestyle Coordinator Maree Herman.

“We designed a team to purchase and a team to wrap. It was so much fun and everyone came back raving about it.”

Maree said residents put a lot of thought into making the opening of the box just as exciting as the items contained within them.

“The pop out cards that sing are in the box so that when the box is opening there is merriment of song and enjoyment, Merry Christmas scatters throughout and small items to excite and thrill the recipient.

“The Project was an incredible success at Keith Park Village!” she said.

The guidelines for what to put in the boxes include something to love, something to play with, something for school, something to wear, and essential items such as toiletries.

Many residents also put their crafting skills to good use, making small wooden toys, knitted teddies or even Christmas tags which doubled up as decorations for the tree.

The project had prompted a real buzz in the villages thanks to the truly heartening response from residents, said Ryman’s Resident Experience Lead Cathy Byrne.

“Villages organised for residents in our care centres to help sort the gifts into age groups, and they delighted looking through them, before packaging them up into the boxes,” she said.

“It’s brought a real sense of community and giving to our villages, especially when residents and team members met the local charities and helped them to load up the boxes.

“Residents have loved getting involved, working together and giving back to their community.”

The team at Catalytic dispatched the boxes to a wide range of local charities, whose deep community knowledge ensured the boxes reached those most in need.

Catalytic CEO Teresa Moore said it had been a great success, just like last year, and the team were extremely grateful to Ryman.

“We were delighted to have Ryman’s support with the Christmas Shoebox Project.

“Thanks to your generosity, around 1200 children who do without life’s necessities every day, will get to share in the joy of Christmas.”

Teresa said the response from residents had been particularly inspiring.

“We were heartened to hear that the residents felt like the Christmas Shoebox Project had given them a purpose.

“We feel like the residents got as much out of participating in the project as the children will receive on Christmas morning.”

Here is the list of charities who received boxes to distribute: