echo With Christmas just passed, the smell of gingerbread and eggnog is still bright in the air. Many of you readers probably spent the days leading up to it giddy with excitement, or perhaps panicking to get some last-minute gifts?
For some, this year, Santa dropped by early. Rather than his velvet red cloak lined in fur, he donned a loud bright orange. Rather than a heavy potato sack filled with toys, he yielded dusty old shoe boxes. Rather than being St. Nicholas we’ve come to expect during winter seasons, this Santa was a group—a dedicated, hardworking organisation by the name of Sunway Student Volunteers (SSV), passionate about making a change in the world through direct action.
“What did they do exactly?” you might be asking. For the local Sunway student, you might have noticed them doing shifts around campus with their signature shoeboxes and posters, jutting in with polite “Hello, can we get two minutes of your time to talk about SSV’s Shoebox Project?”. You might have unknowingly bought a burger from a vendor in one of their charity bazaars. You might have even won their Sunway Lagoon ticket giveaway!
To sum it up, Shoebox Project has been doing a lot—more than what even Santa’s sack could carry. Just recently they were out on-site distributing their shoebox-wrapped gifts. To secure the funds needed for those gifts, they spent months promoting on campus with fun bazaars and engaging activities like movie night.
The driving motivation behind all their events these past months is simple: to give to those in need. That extends from underprivileged kids, to refugees, to Orang Asli Kampungs. Through their valiant, unyielding efforts, they managed to raise an astounding RM9,000 for Shoebox Project 2024!
They distributed these funds through a variety of charity efforts. Staying true to the project’s name, they purchased and packed essay books, pencil cases, A4 paper, stationery sets, school bags, and other essentials into a total of 121 shoeboxes, which were personally hand-distributed to underprivileged kids. This brings them to a total of 5,918 shoeboxes gifted over the current lifetime of Shoebox Christmas, now Shoebox Project. These repurposed shoeboxes are not only a sustainable way to prepare gifts, but also a symbol of how even simple actions can inspire hope.
Besides that, they also successfully met their goal of securing 60 water filters for Orang Asli Kampungs. These communities expressed immense gratitude, also conveying that they were hopeful that these water filters would help address long-standing issues caused by contaminated water sources. Potentially, they could prevent premature deaths and many other health issues.
SSV also utilised these funds to improve the learning environments of refugee schools, namely, the Myanmar Refugee Children Learning Centre. They donated a much-needed projector to enable the NGO to teach more effectively, as well as to hold some basic English classes for the students. The bright smiles on these kids’ faces, along with their cheeky peace signs in pictures, show that they definitely enjoyed the time they spent playing and interacting with SSV’s volunteers.
They conducted many other similar workshops, although ranging in topic. At The Peace Education, there was an educational workshop which targeted improving the kids’ financial knowledge—knowledge which almost everyone needs in today’s society. The volunteers patiently took their time to help the kids with their worksheets and explain each concept clearly so that the workshop went smoothly. They also held an upcycling workshop alongside the financial workshop, which was both fun and informative!
Other workshops were also held during other distributions! At Buku Jalanan Chow Kit, an NGO school, there was a majority of older kids. These kids may have felt neglected by the world and the system, as they lacked access to many essential resources and types of education. Luckily, that’s where SSV comes in to fill the gap. SSV members taught a leadership workshop, which would prepare them to enter the world as adults and to lead strong teams (like SSV itself) in the future.
It is undeniable that SSV’s actions have and will directly contribute to improving these kids’ futures, as well as providing unforgettable memories. While Santa may not be literally climbing down the chimney, we still have ‘Santa’s in the form of impassioned and motivated volunteer groups like SSV: bringing joy, hope, and some Christmas magic into even the darker corners of the world.
Beyond the actions and distributions themselves, the beneficiaries also expressed plenty about how grateful they were. Many mentioned that these kinds of donations would significantly help lessen their burdens and would hopefully lead to a brighter, easier future. 50% of the beneficiaries rated the items received from the Shoebox Project, a full 5/5 in usefulness. The graph of the results looks more like a staircase! 53.33% of beneficiaries felt “Very Happy” when they received the shoeboxes/water filter, which is only further proof of the personal impact this project had in spreading joy this season.
41.7% of the beneficiaries also stated that the items from the project completely met their community’s needs! 55/60 of surveyed participants rated their experience with Shoebox Project 2024 as “Very Satisfied” and overall, the beneficiaries interviewed all expressed immense gratitude towards the contributions of Shoebox Project.
These ambitious goals and the equally impressive success achieved don’t just come from nothing. The consistent effort of the SSV committee in organising this whole project is nothing to scoff at—it was months of planning and preparation. The volunteers also contributed significantly with their hours spent helping promote the initiative, visiting the distribution sites, hosting the workshops, as well as acting as the manpower to make this possible.
SSV also credits part of their success to their supportive sponsors and affiliates, ranging from Efinity Water Filter Social Enterprise, who supplied the water filters, to Sunway Lagoon, which of course sponsored the project as well as providing 10 tickets for their giveaway. Echo Media was also a Student Media sponsor! It’s no surprise that so many organisations and different parties would rally behind this great cause.
A project as grand as the Shoebox Project has been a long time coming, especially with the years of Shoebox Christmas leading up to it. It embodies strong motivations to fulfil the United Nations SDGs that Sunway promotes, as well as a passion and empathy that is hard to come by. It can be hoped that this project will continue for even more years to come, bringing joy and hope into the lives of those less fortunate—one shoebox at a time.
“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
– Neil Armstrong
Written by: Wong Jia Yi
Edited by: Tisyha
