A couple weeks ago I was watching the evening news and saw that they were doing coverage on the Raptor wives/girlfriends showing their support for women living in GTA shelters by helping collect gifts for The Shoebox Project:

The Shoebox Project was founded in 2011 by four sisters-in-law – Caroline Mulroney Lapham and Jessica, Vanessa and Katy Mulroney.

We were looking for a hands-on way to give back in our community. We asked our friends to fill a shoebox with little luxuries that they would enjoy, to decorate the box and drop it off to us. We delivered our gift boxes along with the hundred others we received to more women that we could have expected. Through word-of-mouth, and social media, we have grown in a big way!

I wish I knew about this project earlier. I would’ve totally had a “Shoebox Party” and invited all my friends to come over and fill and decorate their own shoe boxes.

I tend to shop a little too much at times, so I usually have a load of extra, unopened stuff that I can do without (lotions, shampoo, hordes of toothbrushes). What better way to but these items to good use than by giving them to someone in more need than yourself? To top off my shoe box I picked up a few other beauty items and treats. Wrapped it up, stuck on a bow, wrote a nice message on the gift tag and it was good to go. Good thing I had a big, size 12 shoe box to fit everything into!

In a single day, thousands of women are housed in shelters across Canada. This is such a worthy cause, because there are so many women who are experiencing difficult times. I’m glad to know that I’m able to help brighten the holiday season for a woman who may have experienced abuse, poverty or mental illness, by filling up a shoe box with meaningful goodies.