This action is supported by the association L’Emoi de l’Année. Its office is made up of 7 active members: Estelle, Valérie, Amélie, Françoise, Jonathan, Cyrille and Isabelle, joined by several dozen volunteers to give a serious helping hand during the months of October to December. Initiated in 2020 by Estelle Delebarre and a friend, the Maine-et-Loire Solidarity Christmas Boxes action was a real success which required strengthening human resources the following year. This is how, from 2021, the team is strengthened and mobilizes several volunteers. The scale of the project is such today that from a simple voluntary action was born the mutual desire to create an associative structure: The excitement of the year. “For 3 years, we have been organizing a Christmas Box collection for people who are isolated and/or in precarious situations. 5,156 Solidarity Christmas boxes were collected in 2023 and entrusted to associations working with isolated people or people in precarious situations. In total, this collection covered the needs of more than thirty partner associations in Maine et Loire”explains the association.
Solidarity Christmas boxes, what are they exactly?
Solidarity Christmas Boxes are boxes prepared between the end of November and a little before Christmas by individuals, schools, sports clubs, associations or even company employees for people who live in precarious or disadvantaged situations. isolation with the hope of bringing them a little joy at the end of the year. These boxes have a shoebox type format and all contain 5 gifts: Something warm (hat, scarf, hot water bottle, sweater, etc.); Something good (chocolates, candies, spreads, etc.); A beauty product (perfume, organic soap, aftershave, etc.); Entertainment (book, game, toy, cards, crosswords, headphones, etc.); A little sweet word or drawing, poem… The Boxes are intended for audiences of all ages: from babies to the elderly.
The creation of boxes and distribution in practice
Before completing the box, it must be packaged but ensuring that the lid is packaged separately from the rest of the box so that its contents can be checked by the association's team of volunteers. When the box is ready, all you have to do is specify on it which category of public it is aimed at (man, woman, teenager, girl or boy child, baby girl or boy) then put it back in one of the numerous collection points in the department The list of collection points will be communicated on the association's website. They are collected by the association's volunteers who then come to check their content and adapt it if necessary. , complete the description of their content if necessary (concept of size, age, etc.), and classify them by categories to then be able to prepare the associations' orders. Then, it is not the volunteers who will play Santa Claus but the volunteers. partner associations, spread across the department, such as Restaurants du coeur, Secours Populaire, SOS Femmes, Les Orphelins Apprentis d'Auteuil… In 2023, around forty associations received these famous, carefully made boxes. were then given to their beneficiaries just before or just after Christmas. How many boxes are collected? In 2023, the Emoi of the Year was able to collect and redistribute more than 5,000 boxes! And this year, the members of the office, a group of happy and dynamic elves, hope to do even better and above all to succeed in honoring all the orders. If the association rarely runs out of boxes for children, every year the number is not reached for men and sometimes also for adolescents.
Help the association differently
To take part in this great action, alone or with your family, simply make one or more boxes and drop them off at one of the collection points open to the public before December 18, the date end of collection. If you don't have time to make a box, you can also help the association buy enough to complete the boxes or make them for the categories for which they are most lacking by making a donation: https:// www.helloasso.com/associations/l-emoi-de-l-annee/formulaires/1. Merchants who wish can offer chocolates, scarves, hats, games, etc. or, like some companies, become sponsors. You can also carry out the operation within your sports club, school, middle school, high school or even within your company, in the form of internal collection or endowments. To do this, simply contact the Emoi of the Year by email at:[email protected] or via the contact form: https://www.boitesdenoel49.fr/contact/. “It's always a good time between colleagues, members of a sports club…! An action that speaks and builds connections. Some companies tell us about moments of sharing during breaks making boxes with colleagues, or even launching the competition for the most beautiful box! Schools, leisure centers, social centers… also share with us their photos of intergenerational workshops, or during Christmas workshops! ». Finally, it is possible to become volunteers for a few hours, days… any help is welcome.
Practical information: If you are looking for ideas for content for boxes, if you are out of ideas, if you want to find a tutorial for packing boxes, know the partner associations, our sponsors, sponsors, etc. you will find all these little information on: https://www.boitesdenoel49.fr/.
