Rotary club delivers boxfuls of goodwill

Middleton Rotary Club sending 1,300 gift-filled shoeboxes to disadvantaged families across Eastern Europe

Middleton Rotary Club will be bringing festive cheer to thousands of disadvantaged families as it prepares to ship off over 1,300 gift-filled shoeboxes to homes across Eastern Europe.

Elizabeth Birkett, from Middleton Rotary Club, said: “Shoebox donations have been collected from various sources throughout the community including twelve local schools, churches and of course members of the Rotary Club itself.

“The club is responsible for promoting and coordinating the scheme within the Rochdale area as well as delivering the boxes to Preston where they are then loaded onto the transportation to be sent to various destinations.

“Myself other Rotarians visit the schools and talk about the shoeboxes and who will receive them once they have been filled.”

“While the shoeboxes are principally aimed at children, they are also distributed to teenagers and adults, depending on the type of gifts each box contains. Typically, the boxes contain toys and clothes but toiletries and other useful gifts are also encouraged.”

The shipment is part of the Rotary Shoebox scheme run by the charity Rotary International, which provides gifts to disadvantaged families throughout Eastern Europe, many of whom will never have received gifts before.