Corecom Consulting hand picks and packs for annual Christmas children shoebox appeal
Corecom Consulting is gearing up for the festive season, once again filling shoeboxes with gifts for Operation Christmas Child. This year, we have one again packed up shoeboxes, ready to go to children in need all around the world.
Operation Christmas Child is supported by year-round volunteers across the UK. Churches, schools and groups collect the shoeboxes during National Collection Week. Thousands of volunteers check and prepare the shoeboxes for international shipping.
The shoeboxes are distributed to more than 100 countries worldwide. Ministry partners of Samaritan’s Purse around the world hand out shoebox gifts in the local community at festive outreach events.
Millie and Lottie, daughters of Corecom’s Marketing Director, Sarah Lindley, have been hand picking and packing Christmas shoeboxes. Millie, who has taken part in the Corecom initiative for the last six years, said:
“I always look forward to choosing presents for the children. This year I have decided to buy presents for a little girl and I have included a teddy, mosaic kit, a picture book, pencils and pens, face glitter, paper streamers, some toothbrushes and lots of other things.
“Last year we got a postcard from one of the children who received our box to say thank you. They talked about some of the favourite presents that we’d sent – this made it really special for me and my sister.”
In 2021 277,350 shoebox gifts were given to children in eight countries across Eastern Europe, Africa and Central Asia.
Gemma Robinson, Head of Operations, who introduced Corecom to the initiative back in 2016, said:
“It is the sixth year that we have taken part in Operation Christmas Child at Corecom; an initiative which is very close to our hearts.
“To see the smiles on the children’s faces when opening their Christmas shoeboxes on the videos is so heart-warming. There is also now the ability to track which country your shoebox has gone to, which makes the experience really personal.”
The following video is an example of the shoebox joy experienced in Benin:
My hope for the future is to experience women in technology as the norm. The early stages of my career in tech were shaped by women and I feel very privileged to count some of the best women in technology in my network of close contacts and friends. However, I know this isn’t the case for many women in the sector, who find themselves outnumbered by the opposite sex. Anything I can do to challenge the current norm and break the stigma for Women in Technology, I will do.
