Royal Roads University welcomes public participation in The Shoebox Project
For immediate release – November 5, 2008
Victoria, B.C. – It started with shoeboxes and a party at the home of an RRU faculty member two years ago but now a local arm of an international project to help underprivileged children has grown so much it is moving into the RRU conference centre and the public is being invited to participate.
It’s called Operation Christmas Child: The Shoebox Project and it involves packing shoeboxes with small, practical and fun gifts for children in 95 countries. The project is an initiative of Samaritan`s Purse Canada, an international Christian relief agency. The shoeboxes are collected during the Christmas season for distribution to children overseas the following spring.
“Operation Christmas Child has been around for years and I wanted to bring it to RRU as a way to bring colleagues closer together and to strengthen our community,” said Claire Abbott, an associate faculty member who teaches at RRU’s Centre for Applied Leadership and Management.
Abbott first invited colleagues and friends to pack gifts for poverty-stricken children overseas in 2006 and, a year later colleagues Cathy McKenzie, another associate faculty member from the Centre for Applied Leadership and Management, and Shelley Langille, RRU’s director of military and college relations, became involved to help spread the word about the initiative.
“Our goal is create a community of giving around this event so others can share our joy in brightening the lives of children all around the world,” said Langille.
Participants are invited to bring packed shoeboxes to the Royal Roads University Mews Ballroom Thursday, Nov. 20 any time between 3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. along with a $7 donation to mail each box. Items that can be included in shoeboxes include school supplies, toys, candy, clothes and accessories, hygiene items and a personal note.
For instructions on packing your own shoebox, see http://samaritanspurse.ca/occ or contact:
Claire Abbott at Claire.Abbott@gov.bc.ca 250-217-3907 or
Cathy McKenzie at cathmac@shaw.ca 250-727-6286
For media queries, contact:
Community Relations Director, Stephanie Slater
stephanie.slater@royalroads.ca 250-391-2712, cel 250-361-5020
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