CEO's Message Nov

It was all about the children at Tyson Properties branches across the province these last few weeks, as staff shopped for toys, sweets and toiletries to fill their Santa Shoeboxes.

The group this year chose to support the very popular Santa Shoebox Project which sees personalised Christmas boxes being packed for underprivileged children all across the country and even in Namibia.

The Santa Shoebox Project is an initiative of the Kidz2Kidz Trust and is registered as a Public Benefit Organization and a Non-Profit Organisation. It originated in Cape Town and has grown in leaps and bounds, with the number of Santa Shoeboxes growing from a humble 180 boxes in 2006 to a record 118 274 in 2013.

The boxes are distributed to more than 1000 recipient facilities, through more than 60 satellites around South Africa and Namibia. The success of the Project can largely be attributed to its personal nature – donors give gifts to children whose names, ages and genders are known. To date The Santa Shoebox Project has distributed 346,074 shoeboxes throughout South Africa and Namibia

Tyson Properties launched the project as a challenge to see which office could pledge the most boxes and although the initial target was 200 boxes, the agents’ competitive spirit and generosity saw a total of 430 pledges being reached.

“We are delighted to see the support generated for this very worthy project and are pleased to know that our pledges will help the Santa Shoebox team reach their target of 10 000 pledges and 10 000 happy, smiling faces come Christmas time,” said Tyson Properties CEO Chris Tyson.

The office with the highest amount of pledges was Tyson Properties Queensburgh and this was reached with great thanks to agent Lully Gibbons who pledged 35 boxes herself and also rallied friends, family and attorneys to pledge a further 40 boxes. Together with the rest of the Queensburgh team, the office pledged 100 boxes.

 “Thank you to everyone who opened up their hearts to the children and who gave so generously. At Tyson Properties we realise the importance of giving back and supporting those less fortunate and we do hope to continue giving back to our communities on a regular basis in the months and years to come,” said Tyson.

Santa Shoebox National Sponsorship and Gauteng Regional Coordinator Margie Kostelac said that corporate pledges are so important to the Santa Shoebox Project.

 “Most of the pledges are more than 25 boxes at a time and because of this – we are able to assist more children in receiving a gift and having a smile on their faces,” she said.