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Giving some Christmas joy to Romanian families
For several years our Flights Manager, April, has been sending Christmas ‘shoe boxes’ full of toys, colouring books, pens, toiletries and other practical items to orphans and disadvantaged families in Romania. But this year April, together with other members of Charfield Chapel, travelled to Romania to distribute the boxes in person.
They took over 300 shoe boxes with them, all of which had been put together by local people, family and friends including the staff of Mountain Kingdoms who donated at least one box each to this very deserving cause.
The initiative is run by on-the-ground charity, Casa Grace, who operate all year round in the Oradea region of Romania giving advice and support to families in need. Overall 1,000 shoe boxes were sent to CASA from the Bristol area.
During her week in Romania, April and the team visited around 20 families as well as two orphanages for adults and young children with disabilities. Having seen some of April’s very moving photos and video footage, it’s clear that such a simple gift can give great joy to those who have so little. As April said when she returned “It was a privilege to meet such lovely families, we enjoyed singing, playing games and just spending time with them. On behalf of all the Romanian families, we would like to thank everyone for their help and generous giving to the Christmas Shoe Box Appeal 2017.”
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