The EIE Group, as part of its commitment to support communities in need through its CSI initiatives, has sponsored the Santa Shoebox Project with the use of a forklift to assist in the transportation of donations from 8 August until 8 December. 

The project, which was founded in Cape Town in 2006, started with a mere 180 shoeboxes, which it delivered to children in need at Christmas time. Since then, support for the initiative has increased dramatically, with a total of 957 297 shoe boxes being delivered to recipients to date and 2020 marking the distribution of the one-millionth shoebox. 

Each shoebox contains items that are seen as essential to children’s wellbeing, including a toothbrush and toothpaste, a facecloth and soap, school supplies, clothing, sweets and a toy. While all items must be new, unused, and age-appropriate, extra items are most welcome as long as they can fit into a medium-sized shoebox.

The shoeboxes are distributed to more than 1 000 recipient facilities each year through more than 60 drop-off locations around South Africa and Namibia. The success of the project can largely be attributed to its personal nature where donors give gifts to children whose names, ages and genders are known. The project is supported by an extensive network of volunteers across South Africa and Namibia comprising kind-hearted people who give freely of their time, energy and expertise without remuneration. It also relies on the generous backing of various corporate sponsors that pledge monetary or pro bono support. 

Chantell Malherbe, Director of Operations at EIE Group, explains that the EIE Group is dedicated to giving back to the communities in which it serves. “Donating the use of the forklift to such a worthy cause is just one of the ways that we as an organisation want to show our support. 

“Internally, we are also pursuing team donation pledges per branch, driven by our various general managers,” she says. “We will run our internal campaign until mid-October and once donations have been received, we will allocate an individual per branch to deliver the donations at the nearest drop-off locations.”

“This project is close to our hearts. After all, children are our future and deserve to feel joy and love, and receiving a gift that has been specially prepared for them will contribute to this,” she concludes.