BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

19/11/2007

Christmas gifts to Belarus with love

By Dawn Morrison

KIND-HEARTED Midlothian residents have donated 3,000 gift-filled shoeboxes to children in Belarus through the charity programme Operation Christmas Child.

Communities in Gorebridge, Dalkeith, Loanhead, Mayfield, Penicuik and Bonnyrigg contributed to the appeal. Volunteers collected the shoeboxes at drop-off points across the county before they were checked and packed for transportation at warehouses prior to shipment to their final destinations.

Originating in 1990, Operation Christmas Child is one of the UK's biggest annual charity programmes.

Area co-ordinator June Vasey said: "We've been extremely pleased with how the campaign has gone this year and we have been overwhelmed by the number of people from Midlothian who have participated."

She added: "The impact that a shoebox containing some simple gifts has upon a child with nothing cannot be over-emphasised. Many experience challenges most of us would find hard to imagine, and the toys and other gifts brighten difficult lives, particularly at this time of year.

"The thought that goes into each shoebox is special, because it is one person choosing gifts for a child who is living a very different life from that which we enjoy in this country. These are gifts from someone in Britain direct to a child who greatly appreciates what he or she receives."

Source:

http://www.midlothianadvertiser.co.uk/news/Christmas-gifts-to-Belarus-with.3600019.jp