Plea to play Santa to the troops all year round

OVER the Christmas period people in Lisburn have been generously supporting Operation Shoebox, which sends supplies to frontline troops.

However, this is not a seasonal campaign and local people are being asked to play Santa all year round by sending supplies in shoeboxes out to troops serving in Afghanistan.

"The appeal is to show support for the troops in Afghanistan by providing them with essential supplies, making sure they don't run out of the small things we take for granted," explained James Smith, who organises Operation Shoebox in Lisburn.

"Servicemen and women deserve our support and this appeal will show them that people back home are thinking about them."

Items which may be put into the shoeboxes include small variety boxes of cereal, biscuits, tea bags, boiled sweets, chewing gum, pens, cotton socks, toothbrushes and toothpaste, lip salve, non-aerosol shaving cream, roll-on deodorant, talc, shower gel, CDs.

Filled, unwrapped shoeboxes should then be left at one of the local drop-off points in Lisburn - DUP Offices, Castle Street or J&J Embroidery, Drumbeg Drive. The boxes will then be collected by volunteers, weighed, wrapped and sent to nominated soldiers on the frontline.

"We would ask that when filling the boxes people make sure no aerosol cans are included," continued Mr Smith. "Mark your box male or female and if you wish to include a note in the box to let the troops know that you are behind them, that is fine. Men and women are not the only ones on the frontline who have benefitted from Operation Shoebox. One shoebox that was recently sent from Lisburn was not marked ‘male' or ‘female' but rather ‘dog' and included supplies for one of the dogs that work with the armed forces in Afghanistan.

"We at Operation Shoebox would like to thank everyone for their support, and I am sure the brave men and women on the frontline would thank everyone as well," added Mr Smith.

Further details about Operation Shoebox, including a full list of items suitable for inclusion in the boxes, can be found online at www.operationshoebox.co.uk.

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