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Christmas Shoebox Appeal in the Royal!

The students of the Royal School Cavan were full of Christmas cheer earlier than usual this year as they collected
and filled shoeboxes for the Team Hope Christmas Shoebox appeal. In October Miss Poyntz and Mr Robertson
alerted the Transition Year students to the charity and the concept behind the appeal, and by the closing date
in mid-November the students has collected over 50 shoeboxes wrapped in Christmas paper and filled with
treats to be sent off to children to make them happy at Christmas.
This year the students watched a DVD produced by Team Hope showing the difference the small gesture of
a Christmas gift from far away can make. For a lot of these children life is bleak, with little to look forward to
– just hoping to have some food on the table today. Hoping they’ll be safe tonight, and alive tomorrow. And
Christmas is just another ordinary day - nothing special, no Christmas tree, no presents. But these shoeboxes
will bring a little hope, a lot of laughter and smiles and a practical expression of God’s love at Christmas time,
for children who have very little.

No, a shoebox won’t change everything, but it will do far
more than you could ever imagine, by bringing Christmas
to children who have never experienced anything like it
before! And if a local leader requests it, as an optional
extra, Team Hope Ireland also give a Christmas card –
explaining where their box came from, about Ireland
and the significance of the Christmas message.

Over the last thirteen years, Team Hope Ireland has sent
an Irish Christmas shoebox gift to more than 2,600,000
children in twenty one countries. This is a really
wonderful charity and well done to all the pupils of the
Royal School who have supported it so generously.

The Royal Times 2013-2014 73