Shoebox for the Homeless
September of 2008, I sat in the Hatboro-Horsham High School’s auditorium listening to a guest speaker describe his trauma and success throughout his life thus far. I sat thinking, why does my principal ask these random individuals to come in and speak to us about how they failed in high school but now have changed their lives around? My thoughts and opinions stuck with me throughout the speech, but significantly changed when the speaker began talking about a boy who was abused by his father. I have not been personally affected by child abuse, but feel compassionate towards children who have. I carefully listened to the speech and became inspired by the efforts put forth by the speaker to change this little boys life. After the speech, I gave a standing ovation and decided that moment that I wanted to make a difference in a child’s life. When I got home, I began searching for ideas of a community service project that could better the lives of children who are less fortunate. I came across various possibilities such as volunteering at a local hospital, participating in a Big Sister Little Sister program or spending afternoons with cancer victims. While these opportunities were great, I still did not feel as if they were enough. I was torn between the various possibilities and my inspiration to change a child’s life. But that was until I came across the Shoebox Club. The club’s goal was to donate shoeboxes full of donations to children suffering from an illness for their birthday. I quickly fell in love with the idea of stuffing a shoebox with donations. To make the project my own, I decided to make winter holiday presents, instead of birthday presents, and to donate them to homeless children. I called my project, “Shoebox for the Homeless”. Soon enough, I was on my way to impacting the lives of 115 magnificent individuals residing at the Salvation Army in Philadelphia. I felt my project was important to accomplish because I wanted to prove to others, and myself, that one individual really can make a difference in someone’s life.
Starting in October, I quickly began to create and produce a flyer for “Shoebox for the Homeless” in order to make my community aware of my efforts. I handed out multiple flyers throughout my neighborhood and had each child attending a local elementary school receive one. The flyer explained the goals of my project and asked for a variety of new, or slight used, donations such as: books, cds, movies, games, toys, clothes, accessories, crafts, etc. Throughout the process of “Shoebox for the Homeless”, donations were stored at my home and started to take over my living room. Donations were collected for about three months. By this time, no one could walk into the room. Come mid December, I began to sort and organize the variety of donations based on category, age and gender. Next, I filled the shoeboxes to their capacity and wrapped each in holiday wrapping paper and labeled them with an age range and gender.
The success, feedback, impact and letters I had received from organizing Shoebox for the Homeless motivated me to organize a 2nd annual project. This past winter holiday, I contacted five different facilities, or organizations, which I felt would be ideal candidates to receive my shoebox presents. My heart went out to shelters such as the Valley Youth House and Christ’s Home, and organizations such as Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Police Athletic League, and the American Cancer Society. Inspired by last year’s success, I set a goal of donating a total of 120 shoeboxes, about 14 shoeboxes per organization, or shelter. This goal was clearly surpassed when I reached a total of 156 shoebox presents and 6 large boxes full of donations. My successes with Shoebox for the Homeless motivate me to keep giving back to my community because I am truly making a difference in these children’s lives.
By leading Shoebox for the Homeless, I hoped to impact a needy child’s life and to bring the joy of the holidays to families who do not necessarily have a memorable winter holiday. I believe every child deserves a chance, and Shoebox for the Homeless was the perfect project to accomplish my goals. Over 270 children have been touched by my project throughout my community. Volunteer staff and board members, of both the shelters and organizations, were impressed with my efforts and shocked when they found out my age. Many could not believe that a 17-18 year old could organize such a successful project and create an impact on the lives of the children of their programs like I had. Families residing at the shelters benefited from my project because the children were able to feel remembered, and the parents were able to see the smiles upon their child’s face.
A month after I had delivered the shoeboxes to the Salvation Army, in 2008, the coordinator contacted me to let me know that the families still could not stop talking about how gracious they were for being the recipients of my shoeboxes. They said that the children would not stop playing with the toys they were given and asked about me every day. Correspondingly, I have recently received word, from the shelters and organizations I had donated to this past year, that the children were ecstatic as they opened up the shoeboxes. According to the director at the Police Athletic League, they were “a huge hit this holiday season!”. This proves that my goal, and desire, for organizing Shoebox for the Homeless has been accomplished.
I was personally impacted by Shoebox for the Homeless by the overall response from my local community and the families residing at the various organizations and shelters. I was able to courageously put forth my ideas and organize a project of my own, which is something I would have never thought was possible. I would have never thought I would be able to accomplish something so sincere and inspirational if I did not actively involve myself with Shoebox for the Homeless. From this experience, I learned that I am capable of inspiring change and can make a difference in an individual’s life by the efforts I put forth on a daily basis. New and refined skills which I acquired during the process are skills in communication, persuasion, promotion, organization and gift wrapping. Two years ago, I was independent and shy about speaking my opinions. Now, I am willing to share my thoughts with everyone because I am confident that my ideas are meaningful and inspirational.
I have also learned that the world is not as greedy and harsh as I had anticipated. Even in tough economic times, families of my community were willing to donate expensive toys and games such as Leapfrog Learning systems and Nintendo Wii games. I am fortunate to have experienced this project to allow me to understand how the community works.
I am proud about my accomplishments and efforts I have put forth during my 2 years working with this project. By the desire and inspiration I have expressed throughout Shoebox for the Homeless, I hope you see the potentially world changing service project I have created as I do.
1,215 Words
High School Level
Carolyn Walker
