Stor-Age Partner With Santa Shoebox For A Fifth Year

The Santa Shoebox Project is underway for the tenth year of it's existence and their annual drive for shoeboxes filled with gifts that are destined for underprivileged children has begun. Stor-Age are proud to be involved with the project for a fifth consecutive year. "We have been part of the project for a number of years now and the knowledge that we are 'doing good' is worth far more than the effort we put in to make sure the initiative remains as successful as it has been." Notes Chris Oosthuizen, GM Sales & Marketing at Stor-Age Self Storage.

Pledging was officially opened on 1 September and has seen an overwhelming response from pledgers nationwide. "With the theme for 2016, "More Than Just A Shoebox" the team at Santa Shoebox sees our tenth birthday year as truly representative of the ethos behind the project as a whole" said Deborah Zelezniak, Santa Shoebox National Project Manager.

Last year Stor-Age provided 10 000 shoeboxes at no charge for those looking to support the project, "Stor-Age have been fantastic in providing us with storage space for all the things that we need to store throughout the year. They also act as a pick-up point for empty shoeboxes which become, really, a rare commodity at this time of the year" says Irene Pieters, National Project Coordinator for Santa Shoebox. It is clear with the number of requests coming in that the need for shoeboxes is great and once again Stor-Age will be providing 10 000 shoeboxes available at any Stor-Age store around the country.

In addition to the shoeboxes Stor-Age stores nationwide are used as drop-off points for completed shoeboxes, where the Stor-Age vans will then distribute them to where they are needed. Last year Stor-Age received and delivered nearly 10 000 completed shoeboxes to drop offs around the country. "We are in a position this year to assist with the collection of shoeboxes again, as the only self storage company in South Africa with a truly national footprint, we are offering our stores as collection points, where we can take receipt of, store and the deliver the precious cargo, ensuring that it is easier than ever for the public to get involved and also to support an amazing initiative such as the Santa Shoebox Project." Notes Oosthuizen.

“Stor-Age have been instrumental, we needed a place to store our stuff, which we can’t run the project without.” commented Zelezniak. Throughout the project, and for months leading up to the event, Santa Shoebox and volunteer co-ordinators from across South Africa visited their self storage units where all the paraphernalia that you would expect for some festive cheer were stored. Stor-Age staff were quickly caught up in the excitement and a number of them volunteered their own time to assist where possible. This year the Stor-Age staff will all undertake specialised training from Santa Shoebox co-ordinators in order to receive the donated shoeboxes and mark them for their specific drop-off locations.

For more information and to get involved visit the Santa Shoebox website and stay tuned to the Stor-Age Facebook and Stor-Age Twitter page for announcements on when you can collect your shoeboxes. Watch the video of the Stor-Age / Santa Shoebox Project 2014 to see how we were involved.