As we are all busy preparing for the Christmas festivities, it is important not to forget those who are much less fortunate.
Once again, our colleagues at G2 Speech have been gathering gifts and donations for people in need, for the benefit of four initiatives: Operation Christmas Child (Samaritan’s Purse), Society of Saint Vincent de Paul’s Christmas Appeal, Hungarian Baptist Aid (HBAid) and Actie4kids.
Established since 1990, Operation Christmas Child aims to support children around the world. So far, more than 146 million boys and girls in over 150 countries have received gifts donated as part of this international initiative. Colleagues put together boxes of toys, toiletries, schools supplies and clothing items, which were then sent to children in impoverished countries.
Headquartered in Dublin, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul endeavours to help people in crisis and poverty and provide assistance with food, fuel and basic clothing. This year, colleagues took part in two separate appeals ran by the Society:
- the Giving Tree: purchasing a gift (a toy, book/CD, clothing item, gift voucher, etc.) for a person whose name tag is on the giving tree
- and the Food Appeal: donating non-perishable food items to make up hampers for families in need.
Hungarian Baptist Aid (HBAid) is one of the largest aid organisations in Hungary. Its goal is to help people in need within and outside Hungary; the organisation provides regular relief assistance, by providing physical humanitarian aid as well as emotional and psychological support. Similarly to Operation Christmas Child, colleagues have sent shoeboxes with donations to HBAid.
Actie4kids, an initiative from Belgium and the Netherlands, also collects shoeboxes filled with gifts such as school supplies, toys and hygiene products, to be distributed to 50,000 children in West Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, as well as to the children of refugees in Europe.
Thank you to our colleagues in our offices of the Netherlands, the UK (Leeds and London), Ireland and Hungary for their generous donations.
For more information on the above charities:
Operation Christmas Child: https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul: https://svp.ie/Appeal-2017/home.aspx
Hungarian Baptist Aid: http://www.hbaid.org/hungarian-baptist-aid