Muskoka Shoebox Project gets early boost in donations at Rotary conference

Main photo: (From left) Helen Luvison, Joanne Buie, Barb Baldwin, Brandy Van Gelder, and Kim O’Grady with some of the shoeboxes collected for the Muskoka Shoebox Project at the Rotary District 7010 Conference at Deerhurst Resort (supplied)

Since 2015, the Muskoka Shoebox Project has been putting smiles on the faces of local women who deserve to feel special during the holidays.

The initiative, which began in Toronto in 2011 and is now in communities across Canada and parts of the United States, provides shoeboxes filled with small luxury items as well as practical ones for women in need or in transition. Each box has a value of approximately $50. (Note: this isn’t the same project as the shoebox project run by Samaritan’s Purse, Operation Christmas Child.)

The shoeboxes are delivered to local agencies in time for the holiday season “to let women know that they are valued,” says Joanne Buie, one of the Muskoka coordinators along with Penny Burns and Barb Baldwin. The boxes include “something warm, something yummy and something sparkly” along with an inspirational note. New, unopened toiletries, gift cards and journals are some of the other items welcomed. All of the boxes packed in Muskoka stay in Muskoka.

Brandy Van Gelder has been supporting the Muskoka Shoebox Project since 2016. A Rotarian, she coordinated an invitation for the project to hold a breakout session at the Rotary District 7010 Conference held October 19-21 at Deerhurst Resort.

“We thought, ‘what a great opportunity,'” says Buie. “Rotarians generously donated and filled 43 shoeboxes for us. It was a great way to kick off our 2018 campaign.”

Anyone who wants to contribute to the project can fill a box or two on their own, or you can host a shoebox party. Visit www.shoeboxproject.com/muskoka or email [email protected] for more information.

Shoeboxes are wrapped in festive paper, the top and bottom separately so that coordinators and volunteers can check each box to ensure it’s of an approximately $50 value. They’ll redistribute items to ensure that each one is about equal. Or, if you host a party, you can request that a coordinator attend to check each of the boxes before they are wrapped—they’ll add a seal to signify that they are ready for delivery and then transport them to storage until December. Otherwise, you can drop filled boxes off at one of 10 locations in Muskoka. In Huntsville, that’s at either Becker Shoes in Huntsville Place Mall or at the Royal LePage office on Centre Street North.

In 2015, the Muskoka Shoebox Project coordinators hoped to collect 50 filled shoeboxes. They received 350. In the second year they set their goal at 350 and received more than 500. Last year, they asked the community to contribute 750 and they received 1,092—one of the most successful campaigns in Canada.

This year’s goal is 1,000 shoeboxes filled with $50 worth of little luxuries for women in need or in transition in Muskoka.

For more information, visit the Muskoka Shoebox Project Facebook page or www.shoeboxproject.com/muskoka

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