Adam Schmitz sits down with Stephen Conway, the International Projects Coordinator of Team Hope, the team behind the well known Christmas Shoe Box Appeal. Stephen shares some of his stories from over two decades of experience, as well as giving us a peek behind the curtain of the shoebox appeal, explaining how you can make a true difference this Christmas.
As a primary school student in Ireland, the annual Christmas Shoebox Appeal was a day I looked forward to. Along with my classmates, I would wrap an old shoebox in wrapping paper and stuff it with toys, clothing and pencils that my parents had bought from Penny’s the previous day. As I grew up, I continued this annual tradition of filling a Christmas shoebox in the lead up to December and as the years went on I gained a bit more of an understanding for the true meaning of this, knowing that I will hopefully make a difference in the life of a less fortunate child.
Last week I sat down with Stephen Conway, a man who’s been with Team Hope, the team behind the Christmas Shoebox Appeal, since the very start. Through my conversation with him I learned details about the history of the appeal, what goes on behind the scenes, and most importantly, how donating a shoebox at Christmas is so much more than just a few presents in a box.
Before I delve into my interview with Stephen, let me mention that it is not too late to donate a Christmas Shoebox this year. The deadline for physical shoebox donations is Friday November 15, while you can donate to the cause online much later than that which will lead to a shoebox being filled on your behalf.
It’s clear from the start of my conversation with Stephen Conway that the impact receiving a Christmas Shoebox can have on a child cannot be understated. After telling me a little about the origin of the appeal, with the first boxes being sent to orphanages in Romania, he spoke proudly about a speaker at a recent national conference, Vadim. “As a six year old kid he had been given up by his parents because they couldn't afford to keep him. Two years in a row he got a Christmas shoebox. He’s now an adult working in Galway. He knows the value and importance, not just of the contents… but also the message you send to a child.”
Stephen had no shortage of stories of people volunteering with the Christmas shoebox appeal as adults who had received a box as a child. He says “our mission is to focus on bringing love, joy, help and support to children living in vulnerable situations”. He’s seen these children first hand, citing his recent visits to deliver shoeboxes in places ranging from Romania to Burundi.
Early in the interview, I get my first sense of the true joy and opportunity these gifts can bring to children. “They’ve never had anything before, so they’ve never had a chance to share anything before. One guy got a pack of sweets and opened the pack of sweets and started giving everybody a sweet. It has a bigger impact than we could ever possibly measure.”
In terms of what children actually receive in the shoeboxes, Team Hope brings it down to the 4 W’s - something to write with, something to wear, something to wash with and something that makes a child go ‘Wow’. After discussing the importance of each of these, especially the importance that something to write with can have on a child’s ability to receive education, Stephen told a story from a recent trip to Odesa, Ukraine.
“One of them got a tennis ball. We spent the next few hours just playing football with the tennis ball. These are kids who live on their own, in the streets, freezing cold, underground, and yet for a few hours they had fun. The simple tennis ball is a ‘wow’ - and that ‘wow’ is important”.
More than a Shoebox
Looking beyond the Christmas Shoebox appeal, Stephen told me that the annual appeal is sometimes a way for Team Hope to get involved further in a village. The organisation has successfully set up a well in a village in Kenya, saving young girls from making the hours-long journey every day, allowing them to spend more time in school. Initiatives like this can only be set up after locals see that the team really does want to help - something that is proven to them with the support of the shoeboxes.
In Stephen’s eyes however it’s not the gifts in a box nor these larger initiatives that are the greatest impact from the appeal. “The truth is at some stage the sweets are gone, the toys are broken, the clothes are outsized and the only thing that's left is hope. You think about Vadim in Galway, and he kept the hope. It’s incredibly powerful”.
Logistics
As International Projects Coordinator, there’s no shortage of tasks for Stephen to take on. Stephen gave me an insight into the logistics of the annual appeal. Last year Team Hope had 47 centres around Ireland and over 178,000 shoeboxes were received. Between Ireland and abroad, the team has between six and ten thousand volunteers which Stephen said thankfully came about through “a steady climb” over the years. Much of the infrastructure used in the Christmas Shoebox appeal is provided to Team Hope free of charge, with boxes, use of buses and even premises being donated at no cost for the sake of organising Christmas Shoeboxes.
Every shoebox is checked at a checking centre by a team of volunteers. This isn’t just to ensure that items are safe and won’t cause any issues at customs, but also to make sure that each box is jam-packed with enough items for the child who receives it. Eventually, in December, all of these boxes are loaded up into trucks in a sight that Stephen compared to the Coca-Cola Christmas ads, but more life changing.
As part of his job, Stephen deals with problems that arise every year. They range from small scale delivery driver mishaps to international issues. Last year, conflict in the Red Sea led to thousands of shoeboxes being diverted and delivered late, while a number of years previous, flooding in Eswatini meant boxes had to be moved from road delivery to rail delivery - a process that takes time and money.
The Magic of a Christmas Shoebox
It was interesting to get a look behind the curtain at the logistics of this appeal that many people in Ireland have come across every year, but what gripped me during my conversation with Stephen were the stories of real children receiving their boxes. Through stories that combine the generosity of donors and the magic of Christmas, Stephen says he believes that “every child receives that one box that they were meant to receive”.
The Team Hope Christmas Shoebox appeal continues to grow, but Stephen says the hardest part of the job is not having enough shoeboxes to give. Every year their list of deserving children is longer than their list of shoeboxes, and making those decisions can be the hardest part of the year.
How to help
As I mentioned above, it’s not too late to build your own shoebox, but the deadline is fast approaching. Shoeboxes can be donated in person to a number of centres around the country up until November 15th, with shops such as ‘Dealz’ selling everything you need, including the shoebox itself.
If you can’t make a shoebox, the online campaign allows you to choose items to go into a schoolbag in Rwanda or Kenya. This online campaign means that a child won’t only receive the ‘Four W’s’, but also a new schoolbag.
Team Hope can do a huge amount with financial donations. Looking larger than Christmas Shoeboxes, the organisation runs programmes ranging from sustainable pineapple farms to clean water initiatives. All details can be found at Teamhope.ie.
If you can, please help Team Hope this Christmas. Thank you to Stephen Conway for taking time out of his busy schedule to chat to me.