Christmas Shoeboxes ... and a whole lot more, as we work with
Walsworth Road Baptist Church (WRBC) and Hitchin town residents have donated over 3000 shoeboxes to Smile International over the past 3 years. On Tuesday 16 November 2010 a team from Walsworth Road Baptist Church in Hitchin delivered 1084 Smile boxes and additional aid to the Orpington head quarters of Smile International.
This year WRBC was supported by Christchurch, St Faith's and Covenant Praise Churches in Hitchin along with 12 primary and comprehensive schools and several local individuals and organisations including guides and scouts. Church members and friends collected, sorted, checked and loaded boxes and then delivered them to their destination in Kent.
WRBC Pastor Andrew Henton Pusey said, ‘We are delighted with the generous contributions from so many people here in Hitchin and are grateful to everyone who helped. We hope these boxes will spread a little of the Christian spirit where it is so much needed’.
On 6th December Andrew will travel to Kosova with a team of Smile volunteers to help distribute the shoeboxes to needy children. He said, ‘We expect the visits to schools will give us an opportunity to say a little about the project, who we are, where we come from and why we are helping Smile and we also hope to share something of the Christmas story’.
Andrew and the other volunteers will stay in Gjakove (Kosova’s second largest city) for a week and will spend some time at the local Smile Centre. They will distribute shoe boxes to families and school children in a number of local villages. They plan to visit a Children’s Club and will also attend the local church and visit war graves to join in with prayers for Kosova. The only part of the trip Andrew isn’t looking forward to is the weather – local temperatures can drop as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius in December.
Swimming a smile
This won’t be the first time someone from WRBC has visited Kosova. In October 2009 two members of the church enjoyed a Smile Taste and See long weekend in Kosova. The idea for the trip arose following a marathon fund raising effort by the children from the church who, in July 2009, collectively swam the equivalent of the English Channel crossing and halfway back (all without leaving Hitchin Swimming Pool!) raising over £700 for Swim4Zim, the Smile relief work in Zimbabwe.
The link between Walsworth Road Baptist Church and Smile International has continued to develop since 2004 when the church first collected shoeboxes for this very worthwhile project. At that time they were supported by one local school and donated 90 shoeboxes in total. This was a modest beginning to a project which has grown rapidly over the years!
Knitting a Smile
Now the work continues throughout the year as church friends knit hats and gloves which are included in the shoeboxes to make sure each child receives at least one item to help keep them warm in the cold of winter. Friends also knit squares which are sewn together to make blankets which are shipped with the Christmas shoeboxes to be used by Smile in their work for the relief of poverty.
Christmas Shoeboxes in Hitchin -
Twelve schools – Four churches – Other community groups – Lots of individuals!
