Here’s what you can do to repurpose your old shoeboxes

It all started in 2009. When Filipino teacher Efren Peñaflorida, created the Kariton Klasrum. His goal was to bring education to street children and out-of-school youth. 

Inspired by the effort of Peñaflorida, TeamAsia, an integrated marketing communication agency and IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), joined together to start My Dream in a Shoebox.

“There are public schools that offer affordable education here in the Philippines, but a lot of kids still don’t go to school because they don’t have the means to buy school supplies. For underprivileged families, food on the table is the priority,” said Clarisse Salindato, TeamAsia’s senior marketing associate. 

Clarisse said that every Christmas, we’re used to receiving gifts wrapped in a box. This time, they want to pay it forward by turning old shoeboxes to gift boxes. 

 The idea is simple – to use shoeboxes as a means to help and encourage children to go to school. They put school supplies inside and wrap it with a colorful wrapping paper.

My Dream in a Shoebox is supported by companies and individuals from different industries and sectors such as BPO, food, academe, and the government. This year, they’re grateful to have the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation, Payatas Orione Foundation, National Bookstore Foundation, and Loc & Stor 24/7 Self-Secure Storage.

As they celebrate their 11th year this December, they decided to sponsor the education of 200 kids from 15 different communities. At the same time, they will help partner communities by gathering 75,000 shoeboxes and holding gift-giving events. 

For only P3,000 you’ll be able to support an underprivileged child with a year’s worth of school supplies, uniform, and allowance.

At the minimum, they request each shoebox to contain the following school supplies: 

• Two notebooks
• One pad paper
• Two pens
• Two pencils
• One eraser
• One box of crayons
• One ruler
• One bottle of glue

To allow the recipient to use the box as storage, they recommend separately wrapping the lid and box with colorful recycled paper or Christmas wrappers.

You can also purchase school supplies directly from National Bookstore Foundation.

They offer special packages, discounted rates, and free delivery to offices within Metro Manila for My Dream in a Shoebox. You can either choose materials for grades 1 to 3 or grades 4 to 6.

If you want to take part in handing out shoeboxes collected on their Gift Giving Days, please refer to their schedule below:

• December 6 – Payatas Orione Foundation, Quezon City
• December 13 – Christ the King Parish, Las Piñas City
• December 20 – San Pedro Calungsod Parish, Muntinlupa City
• December 29 – Ascension of Our Lord Parish, Parañaque City

For more information on how you can help, email Johanna Amancio, TeamAsia’s media relations associate, at jcamancio@teamasia.com or call 0917 889 0658. – Rappler.com

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