{"id":134906,"date":"2016-10-06T07:45:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T05:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/134906\/make-a-difference-with-a-santa-shoebox\/"},"modified":"2016-10-05T15:08:46","modified_gmt":"2016-10-05T13:08:46","slug":"make-a-difference-with-a-santa-shoebox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/news-headlines\/2016\/10\/06\/make-a-difference-with-a-santa-shoebox\/","title":{"rendered":"Make a difference with a Santa Shoebox"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Pledges for the annual Santa Shoebox Project have opened.<\/p>\n<p>The initiative, that has become one of South Africa\u2019s favourite ways to donate to underprivileged children across South Africa and Namibia, is celebrating its 10th birthday.<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p>With this amazing milestone in mind the project aims to be bigger and better than ever, with hopes of securing as many pledges as possible.<\/p>\n<p>This year the Santa Shoebox Project aims to donate 100 000 boxes to underprivileged children throughout the country.<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p>What makes the Santa Shoebox Project a favourite with families, individuals and corporate donors is that it is highly personalised.<\/p>\n<p>Prospective beneficiaries apply to the project in April each year, with the pledging process being opened from September 1.<\/p>\n<div class='tie-fluid-width-video-wrapper tie-ignore-fitvid' style='margin-bottom: 30px;'>\n\t\t\t<iframe style='width: 100%; min-height: 300px; aspect-ratio: 16\/9;' src='https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/x8jBYnvllPg' loading='lazy'><\/iframe>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>Donors get to choose who they make a pledge to by visiting www.santashoebox.org.za, the child\u2019s name, age and gender will be given to them upfront so that they are empowered to choose perfectly appropriate contents for their shoebox.<\/p>\n<p>It is also why it is so important that all pledges are fulfilled \u2013 there\u2019s always a child in anticipation of what Christmas might bring, and an unfulfilled pledge is just like Santa failing to make good on the promise of the festive season &#8212; remember that a pledge is a promise.<\/p>\n<p>A decade of experience has finely honed the wisdom of what\u2019s best to go into a Santa Shoebox.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a specific balance of what every child wants and what underprivileged children particularly need, which has informed this year\u2019s theme of \u2018More Than Just a Shoebox\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Always generous in spirit, some donors may want to fill the shoebox space with items more exciting than soap and a facecloth, toothpaste and a toothbrush; but the reality is these everyday gifts are vital under the circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also plenty of space in a Santa Shoebox to include the fun stuff.<\/p>\n<p>The template for a Santa Shoebox also includes an age-appropriate toy, an outfit of clothing and a vital gift of stationery, as well as a sweet treat.<\/p>\n<p>If all of this seems too much for an individual donor, it\u2019s easy to get together as a family, a community group or a corporate team to complete one Santa Shoebox that makes an extraordinary experience become real for a child.<\/p>\n<p>Remember it\u2019s not as important how the box gets filled as it is that a child gets a Santa Shoebox filled with what they need.<\/p>\n<p>The GCN will be getting involved in this worthy cause and are encouraging the community to do the same.<\/p>\n<p>Residents are encouraged to visit www.santashoebox.org.za to make their pledge.<\/p>\n<p>Once your Santa Shoebox is completed you can either drop them off at the GCN\u2019s offices situated at 25 Main Road, Fishers\u2019 Hill, by Wednesday, November 2 (during office hours).<\/p>\n<p>Alternatively boxes can be dropped off at JHB East, located at 3 Anchor Industrial Park, corner of Jones and Taljaard roads, in Jet Park.<\/p>\n<p>Boxes must be delivered between November 4 to 6.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Drop off dates and times are:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Friday, November 4, from 8am to 5pm.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Saturday, November 5, from 8am to 6pm.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Sunday, November 6, from 9.30am to 2pm.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Make a difference in a child\u2019s life this Christmas.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Other articles you may be interested in:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/70059\/dinwiddie-company-supports-santa-shoebox-project\/\" target=\"_blank\">Dinwiddie company supports Santa Shoebox Project<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/69247\/how-to-get-involved-with-the-santa-shoebox-project\/\" target=\"_blank\">How to get involved with the Santa Shoebox Project<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"stream-item stream-item-below-post-content\">\n<div class='tenancy_slot tenancy_slot_1 jannah_ad' style='display: none;' data-query-id='d0f5ea11250c3d5d8b68119b4629ac21'><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pledge your Santa Shoebox today and make a difference in the life of a needy child this Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":135041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[508,7,2],"tags":[984,8297,1257,1051,1012,1003,1106,979,969,2730,8429],"class_list":["post-134906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editors-choice","category-local-news","category-news-headlines","tag-charity","tag-community-2","tag-donate","tag-donations","tag-east-rand","tag-ekurhuleni","tag-gcn","tag-germiston","tag-germiston-city-news","tag-leigh-hodgson","tag-santa-shoebox-project"],"amp_enabled":true,"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Local news"},"tag_labels":["charity","community","donate","donations","East Rand","Ekurhuleni","GCN","germiston","germiston city news","Leigh Hodgson","santa shoebox project"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}