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Popular FAQs

Drop Off

  1. Where and when do I drop my box off?
    When you Register as a Supporter, you will be asked to identify your most convenient drop-off point, this is where your Santa Shoebox must be delivered. Please ensure that you select a point that is convenient and that you can get to the drop-off point on the allocated dates. Click FAQs - Find my local Drop Off for details of the drop-off venues and dates.

  2. How do I change my drop off?
    Please login with the email address or cell number and password you used during registration. On the top right of your profile click on the edit profile link, where you can update all your details. Submit to save your changes then logout on the top right.

  3. Why is there no Drop Off in my area?
    Drop Offs are dependent on Santa Shoebox volunteer resources in an area. Drop Offs are linked to teams of Santa Shoebox volunteers who administer the facility application process which takes place between February and April. Because of this, our Drop Offs have already been finalized for the year. If you would like a Drop Off in your area please consider signing up as a Coordinator for next year. At the Drop Off, Santa Shoeboxes are checked, packed into large cartons according to facility and celebration date and collected, then stored, distributed and handed out.
    To sign up as a Satellite Coordinator Login with the email address or cell number and password you used during registration. On the top right of your profile click on the edit profile link. Select the Supporter Tab and click on the Volunteer block to complete your details. Submit to save your changes then logout on the top right. A member of the SSB team will be in contact with you.

  4. Will there be an alternative Drop Off date and venue?
    Unfortunately not. At the Drop Off, Santa Shoeboxes are checked, packed into large cartons according to facility and celebration date, collected, stored, distributed and then handed out. There is no way for your late box to catch up with this process. Any box not delivered within the stipulated Drop Off time, will be considered as a “no show”. Click FAQs - Find my Local Drop off for details of the drop-off venues and dates.

  5. What happens if I miss my Drop Off date or forget to make my box?
    This is the most serious “blunder” in the Santa Shoebox world. Imagine a group of children receiving their gifts and one – the child allocated to YOU – is without a gift? Can you imagine the disappointment and heartbreak? PLEASE check FAQs - Find my Local Drop Off before you start requesting names, pledging and making a commitment to a child. If you have pledged a box and can no longer fulfill the commitment, please Contact Us immediately.

  6. Why are boxes checked at Drop Off??
    Each and every box that Santa Shoebox receives on behalf of our recipient children needs to be checked. Our trained volunteers at each Drop Off do a swift routine inspection of each box to check for standardisation and compliance. Under no circumstances are any items removed from boxes, unless they are undesirable of nature; read more about this under FAQs - How to pack a Shoebox. Any required items that have been omitted from the box need to be included, so that the each child receiving the box doesn’t feel less fortunate. We rely on the generous donations of items and funds from the public and our sponsors to purchase these items. It is NOT acceptable to omit items from the required list.

Pledging

  1. When and how can I start pledging?
    Pledging opens for individuals and Teams on 1 September.
    As a registered Supporter, please ensure you have ticked Donor or I want to donate under your profile. To edit your profile lease Login with the email address or cell number and password you used during registration. On the top right of your profile click on the edit profile link, where you can update all your details. Submit to save your changes.

  2. How does the individual pledge work?
    As an individual Donor you are able to pledge a maximum of 20 pledges, if you’d like to pledge more please create a team pledge.

  3. How does a Team Pledge work?
    *As a Donor you are able to create a Team Pledge. A team is any group of people, extended family, school, club, company or other who require more than 20 pledges.
    * The Team Creator manages the group pledge by adding team members, pledging and assigning pledges to them. Donors who have been assigned pledges will receive an email confirming the process.
    *A maximum number of 50 pledges are available to confirm at a time, once confirmed you can continue to pledge. A maximum number of 200 pledges can be confirmed per team each day.

  4. How can I pledge a Virtual Shoebox?
    This year we have partnered with Pick ’n Pay who will be selling the Virtual Shoebox through their online shopping platform. There are many complexities in integrating our two systems so we have agreed to address that challenge next year. For 2015, we will link your beautiful purchase to a child as part of our Drop Off process. For more information about the Virtual Shoebox see the FAQ – Santa Shoebox.

  5. Why can I no longer select children from a specific facility?
    The Children’s Act 38 of 2005 (as amended by the Children’s Amendment Act 41 of 2007) and the associated Regulations came into force on 1 April 2010 to respect, promote, protect and fulfill children’s constitutional rights. The Santa Shoebox Project will do its utmost to uphold the rights of the children it represents, to ensure that active steps are taken to prevent third parties from interfering with and violating the children’s rights. To protect the identity of the recipient children in our Project, we can no longer display a list of children’s names in direct association with the name of a facility, in a public domain such as our website. This ensures that no member of the public will gain access to a named child through our website. We are aware that many of our donors continue to support the same facilities year after year, and we realise the necessary change to the pledging process may create some disappointment. We also know that you will support any policy that keeps our kids safe from potential harm.

  6. My company/organisation would like to participate as part of our CSI initiative.
    Such a wonderful idea! Please ask each colleague to register as a donor and make his/her own pledge. Alternatively, you can designate a minimum of 3 co-workers to govern a team pledge. One of the 3 are required to register, login and create the team pledge which includes the additional 2 members contact details. Please see FAQ - How does a Team Pledge work for more guidance.

  7. What is an extra box and what are they used for?
    An Extra Shoebox is a “no-name” Shoebox where the donor chooses the age and gender of the child. These Shoeboxes play a very important role in the success of our Project by making up for “no show” boxes, and for ensuring that there are Shoeboxes for the new children who have joined the Facility from the time the name list was handed in, earlier in the year. The content requirements of the Extra Shoeboxes are exactly the same as for the named children.

Volunteer

The success of this Project depends on its volunteers. Please consider being a team member or even coordinator of a satellite in your area.

  1. What do I need to become a Volunteer?* Approximately 3 hours per week - This will be much more when it comes to the collection of the boxes (2 or 3 full days at the end of October or early in November) but there will also be times when you don’t need to do anything for a few weeks.
    *Commitment to the Project for the duration of the campaign i.e. Jan – Dec
    *Organisational skills
    *A reliable network of 2 – 5 people to create your team
    *Access to a computer and the internet, and computer literacy
    *Reliable transport to visit facilities

  2. What Volunteer roles are there?
    Coordinators – Team leaders who manage 5 -10 Sub-Coordinators and oversee the Project requirements of an area.
    Sub Coordinators – Team members who manage 5 – 10 beneficiary facilities.
    Tasks could include:
    *implementing policy and procedure;
    *nominating, selecting and approving beneficiary facilities;
    *supporting beneficiary processes eg: the uploading of name lists;
    *managing and/or working at the drop off;
    *event-coordination & sponsorships;
    *media-liaison and PR;
    *logistics and celebrations.Ad-hoc Volunteers – Support Team members with -Facility assessment
    *Drop Off – scanning, checking, running, packing, logistics and delivery
    *Celebrations

  3. How do I become a volunteer?
    Whether you have a few hours per month or are available full time, your time, effort and expertise are always very needed and welcome. Please Register and tick the Volunteer option under your profile. The Coordinator from your area will be in touch with you.

  4. What is the difference between a volunteer and a coordinator?
    The Coordinator manages the Project in his/her area, which includes identifying and nominating recipient Facilities, guiding the team, assisting with name lists, managing the Drop Off venue for National Drop Off Week held during the last week of October, and being involved with the Santa Shoebox Celebrations at the end of the year. A volunteer will assist the coordinator at any stage of the Project throughout the year, or will be a volunteer at Drop Off time.

Santa Shoebox

  1. To what value should my box contents be?
    The monetary value of the box depends on the age of the child and where the shopping is done! As long as the box contains ALL the 8 required items (clothing, educational supplies, face cloth, soap, sweets, toothbrush, toothpaste and a toy), it can cost anything from R250 upwards.

  2. Must the Santa Shoebox contain ALL the required items?
    Yes, all the 8 required items (clothing, educational supplies, face cloth, soap, sweets, toothbrush, toothpaste and a toy) must be included. Please refer to FAQs – How to pack a Shoebox for the box contents. When the Shoeboxes are handed out to a group and the children open their gifts, it would be heartbreaking to see little eyes looking at everyone else’s filled boxes and he/she only received a packet of sweets in theirs. We try and standardise the gifts as far as possible to be fair to everyone. Extra bits and bobs over and above the required items are welcome, as long as all the items fit into a medium sized box.

  3. I would like to pack chocolate and blow bubbles in my box?”
    Please refer to FAQs – How to pack a Shoebox and make sure to know exactly what not to pack. Blow bubbles and all other liquids can leak or glass containers break causing spillage and spoiling of items, so please remember to put all liquid items in a ziplock plastic bag. The boxes are stored before they are delivered – temperatures can be high and chocolate may melt and spoil the rest of the contents of the box – these too can be sealed in a ziplock plastic bag.

  4. What size Shoebox can I use?
    A medium size box, 20x34x11cm, is recommended – this is the size box of an adult running shoe. Any box larger than this impacts on the packing capacity of the cartons we use to store and deliver the gift boxes. These cartons have to be bought, so the bigger the gift boxes, the more cartons are needed, and the more expensive the process becomes to the Santa Shoebox Project. Any boxes too large (eg boot boxes) might have to be repacked into smaller boxes at the Drop Off. Any box much smaller than this, well, you’d have to be a magician to pack all the required items into a space that small! Flip-top boxes are quite acceptable. Paper ream boxes may be used, provided the sides have been cut down to a maximum of 15cm in height. Decorative gift boxes bought at retail stores are sometimes square in shape, and deeper. These too are acceptable, provided they are of a medium size. The same applies to plastic containers.

  5. Why can I not wrap my box like a gift?
    We request that boxes and their lids be covered and decorated separately, rather than ‘wrapped’, so that the Shoebox can be opened and closed easily, without ruining the wrapping. Children keep the Shoeboxes as a Keepsake Box as they often do not have anything of their own in which to keep their little belongings. If they rip off the wrapping paper, the box underneath is unattractive, there is a huge amount of littering with the ripped off wrapping paper, and if the label has been ripped off with the paper, the gift boxes might get mixed up. Also, the boxes need to be unsealed and easily re-sealable, to facilitate the checking process that takes place at the Drop Off venues.

  6. Why are boxes checked at the Drop Off ?
    Each and every box that Santa Shoebox receives, on behalf of our recipient children, needs to be checked. Our trained volunteers at each Drop Off do a swift routine check of each box to check for standardisation and compliance. This is done for the sake of the child receiving the Shoebox. Under no circumstances are any items removed from boxes, unless they are undesirable of nature; read more about this under FAQs – How to pack a Shoebox. Any “required” items that have been omitted from the box, need to be included, so that the each child receiving the box doesn’t feel less fortunate. We rely on the generous donations of items and funds from the public, and our sponsors, to purchase these items. It is NOT acceptable to omit items from the required list.

  7. What is an extra box and what are they used for?
    An extra box is a “no-name” Shoebox where the donor chooses the age and gender of the child. These Shoeboxes play a very important role in the success of our Project by making up for “no show” boxes, and for ensuring that there are Shoeboxes for the new children who have joined the Facility from the time the name list was handed in, earlier in the year. The content requirements of the Extra Shoeboxes are exactly the same as for the named children.

Beneficiaries

  1. My organisation would like to apply to receive Santa Shoeboxes.
    The application process for 2015 is open from 4 March to 23 April. Please Register or Login as a Facility Representative on our Website during this period.

SSB Project

  1. Can you please send me information about the Santa Shoebox Project?
    All information is available on the website. About will give you an idea of “who we are”. Watching the Vidoe in our Gallery will give you a deeper understanding of the organisation. Under In the Media, the media release gives an excellent summary of “what we do”, and how you can become involved by Becoming a Supporter.

  2. I’ve heard about other shoebox projects managed by a number of social groups – do you all belong to the same organisation?No. The Santa Shoebox Project is an initiative of the Kidz2Kidz Trust (IT2671/2009), a registered Public Benefit (PBO 930031301) and Non Profit Organization (NPO 102-098) with Section 18A status. The Santa Shoebox Project is trademarked, any unauthorised use of this name may be an infringement. If it does not say SANTA, it’s not this Shoebox Project.
  3. How does the Santa Shoebox Project fit in with Kidz2Kidz?The Santa Shoebox Project is an initiative of Kidz2Kidz Trust (IT2671/2009), a South African registered Public Benefit (PBO number 930031301) and Non Profit Organization (NPO 102-098) with Section 18A status that offers assistance to children in need with current emphasis on Southern Africa. For more information visit www.kidz2kidz.co.za.