College launches its annual Christmas shoebox appeal

The appeal is coordinated by HNC Events students, assisted by their tutor Beatrice Soutar. They will gather and sort donations, and send them to the Samritan’s Purse charity which runs the project and will distribute shoeboxes to deprived children all over the world. Donation points have been set up at both Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch campuses, with the Cumbernauld dropoff located in the “street” on the college’s ground floor.

The HNC Events students ask would-be donors to remember that all items must be new, though not necessarily expensive. Suitable items are as follows:

Toys including bears, soft toys, tennis balls, finger puppets, jigsaws, yo-yo’s, building blocks, dominos, small musical instruments, trucks and cards, dolls, clip on earrings; educational supplies including felt pens, pens, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, colouring books, notepads, picture or puzzle books, chalk, pencil cases, stickers; hygiene items including toothbrushes, toothpaste, hairbrushes, combs, hair clips, bars of soap or flannels (no liquids can be included within the boxes); and other items including sweets (not chocolate) with a sell-by date of at least March 2012, gloves, scarves, sunglasses, caps, hats, bangles and necklaces.

There are three age groups for both boys and girls - 2-4 years, 5-9 years and 10-14 years. There is a particular shortage of items for children aged 10-14.