Fréjus, Antibes, Marseille … The return of Christmas boxes to offer to the most disadvantaged
The idea is simple and generous: to offer a gift to people in difficulty. But a gift that would look like the ones you are going to put at the foot of your Christmas tree. Throughout the PACA region, volunteer organizers collect and distribute these “Christmas boxes”.
When we love, we don’t count! We do not count the hours of mobilization and the gifts made.
This year again, throughout the PACA region, volunteers are organizing the collection and distribution of things that have become famous: the “Christmas boxes”.
The idea is simple: give a gift to people in difficulty. A small box full of well-chosen gifts. Here is the exact composition:
For those initiated into this movement, there is thus a form of equity for the beneficiaries. “If each and everyone receives exactly the same thing, there will be no tension and the distribution will remain good-natured” specifies a volunteer from Fréjus in the Var.
The boxes will then be handed over or dropped off to associations, such as Spirit of sharing marauding for the Alpes-Maritimes, the Guardian Angels of Monaco, Civil Protection or Secours populaire.
In my memories, we collected 2,400 boxes last year in the Antibes sector
remembers Nathalie Croft, volunteer.
Originally, it was a question of taking a shoebox, and putting gifts there for people in great precariousness. The objective is to combine the gift with the surprise, in short, to recreate the magic of Christmas.
To help you choose the presents, it is suggested that you follow the following advice:
- Something warm (socks, gloves, hat, etc.)
- Something good (chocolates, cakes, tea, etc.) but dry and non-perishable is important.
- Entertainment (card game, books, magazines, crosswords or sudokus, puzzles, notebook with pencil, etc.)
- A hygiene or beauty product (shower gel, hygienic protections, toothpaste, etc.)
- A sweet word for the Christmas holidays (a beautiful Christmas card, a drawing, etc.)
- and why not masks and hydroalcoholic gel.
Sweetness as a gift
Last year, the volunteers of the Civil Protection of the Alpes-Maritimes had participated in the redistribution of these boxes on the department.
This year, we are going to relaunch this great operation again because last year, the volunteers distributed 150 boxes,
For his team, deposits can be made at the departmental headquarters of Civil Protection: 16 avenue de la Serre in Cagnes-sur-Mer every Wednesday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. It is specified that the organization does not receive bags of linen or other donations on this occasion.
This initiative is repeated everywhere in the four corners of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. Here is a quick overview of the initiatives announced on that date.
In the Alpes-Maritimes:
Deposit points are already in place as indicated in this post:
In the Var:
In the Bouches du Rhône and Vaucluse:
A map of France currently being updated lists the various collections organized. Here is the outline, so it is better to get information before moving:
One last detail, it is imperative to specify if it is a gift for a woman or a man, or if it is mixed. And above all, nothing perishable, the volunteers insisting on this point!
Just a moment of sharing, lasting.