4000 Team Hope Christmas Shoeboxes head off to Albania

A lorry with almost 4000 Team Hope Christmas Shoeboxes on board squeezed out of Spoutwell Lane in the centre of Mullingar to start the long journey to Albania last Thursday morning.

Alison Murphy, long serving coordinator for Team Hope in the area, and a team of volunteers had spent an hour loading the boxes on the lorry, and all were delighted that the work was done, and the goods were being sent on their way with seasonal goodwill for children in Albania.

Alison told the Westmeath Examiner that members of the public had dropped off boxes and/or gifts to go into boxes at Fagan and Dealz over the previous two weeks.

The shoeboxes contain school supplies, basic hygiene supplies, something to wear, toiletries and gifts. “So, it’s both a practical box and a gift.

“We finished collecting them two days ago and each of those boxes is checked and it’s packed into a carton. We have Shoeboxes, filled into 360 cartons, and this morning we started loading them on the truck and they’re heading for Albania. So that’s 3915 smiley faces the other end.

“We would like to thank all the schools, all the parents, all the individuals that have donated boxes – you know, times are hard here, and yet people have still been so generous, because they recognise that these boxes are going to Albania, and in Albania they’re very little in the way of welfare, so the poverty is extreme compared to what we recognise as poverty. For many of these children, it will be the first time they’ve ever received a gift.

“So just thank you to everyone that’s donated a box – we couldn’t do it if they didn’t keep donating.”