The Campbell River Shoebox Project has wrapped up another holiday season with a successful drive and many vulnerable women in the area will benefit.
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Having had a goal of 575 shoebox gifts valued at $50 for vulnerable women from the North Island, at the end of the drive the campaign had reached over three quarters of that goal. Over 440 local women received shoeboxes this year; 375 women from Campbell River and an additional 65 in Port Hardy. The total value of the donated shoeboxes was over $22,000 this year.
Local Coordinator Alison Skrepneck was pleased with the outpouring of support from the local community, especially since this was the first year of donating shoeboxes in person since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I want to thank everyone who got involved in whatever way they could in order to provide gifts to women who are less fortunate this year,” said Skrepneck. “There seemed to be a lot of buzz of excitement in the community with the return to collecting and distributing shoeboxes after two years of providing gift cards during the pandemic.”
Amid the onset of rising prices and other challenges, the tenth year for the Shoebox Project in Campbell River and the sixth in Port Hardy was met with an over-swelling of support from community members who could be generous.
Skrepneck says it’s the support from the local populace and their undying hearts in the holiday season why initiatives like the Shoebox Project are so heartwarming.
“Donations were down during the pandemic. It was so heartwarming to see a more robust response from the community this year,” said Skrepneck. “We are very grateful for the generosity and support of community members.”
A milestone was reached this year as well: Shayla Attfield and her group of friends have been getting together for the past several years and creating shoeboxes for local women in need. Over time, this group has now created and donated a total of 100 shoeboxes.
“I am so grateful to bring together my community of women to help other women in our community,” Attfield says.