Over the years, u3a Oliva has supported El Bastidor - a school for disadvantaged children in the town. It's a great organisation doing great work, and every year we try and bring a little extra magic to the festive season.
Our annual Shoebox appeal encourages u3a members to donate some small gifts to the children at the school. Your gift can put a huge smile on the face of the youngster who receives it. We donate shoebox gifts to the young boys and girls between 6 and 12 years old.
How you can help
To get involved, you'll need to buy or collect some small gifts, and of course get a shoebox to put them in!
If you don't have one to hand, you can normally get an empty shoebox from local shoe shops or markets in Oliva / Gandia. Aim for a box sized for men's shoes (size 42/44 EU, 8/9 UK) so they all look similar sizes.
And then just fill your shoebox with some gifts - to around a value of 15€ or so.
There´s no restriction on how many boxes you can donate - some couples do one each!
What to choose?
It's your choice what to include, but definitely include at least one toy. You might also consider writing / reading / colouring materials, or even clothes like T-shirts. But no food, sweets or drinks please.
Some wrapping tips
- Help us distribute your gifts by wrapping them in pink or blue wrapping paper (if you need to show your gift is best for a young boy or girl).
- Put a label on the side to show which age the gift is best suited for, and whether it's best for a boy or girl.
- Don't include ribbons or bows as it can make it difficult for the elves to stack the boxes in the sleigh.
- As well as filling the box with gifts, add some love too (as much as you can) ❤️
We really hope to be able to deliver 90 gifts this year (WE WILL!), making sure all the children from 6 to 12 years old get one. That´s a big increase on last year, so we need everyone´s help.
If you're buying gifts for youngsters in your life, why not just add one extra to your list. If you can donate more than one gift, then that's wonderful and will make a huge difference.
The appeal is open to everyone, not just u3a members, so please mention to your friends to see if they want to get involved too.
We'll be collecting gifts in early / mid December, so plenty of time to get involved. We'll keep you up to date here on the website, and in our Facebook group too.
If you'd like to get involved, just send Steve Hems (aka Papa Noel) an email with your name, and the age(s) / gender(s) you want to get a gift for.