Hyprop’s shopping centres across South Africa are gearing up for a wonderful festive season filled with love as the partners aim to present more children with gifts this year.
Spring may be in the air and Summer on its way, but for Hyprop shopping centres across South Africa, it also means that it’s time for an extra outpouring of love and kindness as they become the focal point for collection and drop-off of Santa Shoebox donations.
Each year the Santa Shoebox Project collects and distributes personalised gifts of essential items and treats for underprivileged children throughout South Africa and Namibia. To date they have given joy to more than 1 077 289 children.
This feel-good project has been going for 16-years, with many of the Hyprop centres having been involved for a decade or more. Extending the support in 2022, the campaign will be carried across all eight of Hyprop’s retail properties, along with support from the Hyprop Foundation, which has contributed R350 000 to the continued training of Early Childhood Development teachers under the auspices of the Santa Shoebox Legacy.
Hyprop’s Brand and Campaigns Marketing Manager, Christie Stanbridge, is a loyal fan of the initiative and is spearheading this year’s drive. She says: “South Africans have big hearts and in the build-up to the end of year celebrations, we hope we can all come to together to help children who need some extra cheer and joy in their lives over the festive season.
“When we first presented the idea of a national campaign to the business, three years ago, it was a unanimous yes, and so we will continue rolling this out to all our centres and encourage our customers to come out in their numbers to get involved and help spread the love.”
Deb Zelezniak, CEO of Santa Shoebox Programmes says: “The Project hopes to receive 75 000 gifts nationally this year, with the majority being received in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Based on 2021’s results, almost 3 000 boxes will be dropped at Hyprop Drop and Go points in 2022, and close to 20 000 at the Hyprop-hosted Drop Off events – which equates to 30% of the total anticipated Shoeboxes. Hyprop shopping centres enhance the Santa Shoebox donor experience and support the Project in achieving its goals.”
Throughout the month of September, shoppers can go onto the Santa Shoebox website and register their pledge, choose the child they wish to gift to, then collect an empty shoebox (the first five will be free of charge but thereafter, if customers want more, there will be a fee of R5 per box). The boxes will be at each of the Hyprop shopping centres – see below for details.
Completed boxes will then be dropped off at Customer Service Desks in October at each of the centres. They will be scanned and logged before being transferred to identified main drop-off points.
The Santa Shoebox website (and the participating shopping centres) will have some hints and tips on how to pack the perfect Shoebox gift and the sort of items that will make the beneficiaries smile.
Participating centres are:
Canal Walk
Capegate
Rosebank Mall
The Glen
Clearwater
Hyde Park Corner
Somerset Mall
Woodlands
The magic continues into October and November, as each year, donors look forward to the Main Drop off events where they get to see all the love building before their eyes. Boxes are dropped, checked, and packed for distribution to their specific facility – truly a sight to behold!
Centre Specific Shoebox Main Drop Off Events:
o Canal Walk 3 – 5 Nov
o Somerset Mall 28 – 29 Oct
o The Glen Shopping Centre 28 – 30 Oct
o Woodlands 27 – 29 Oct
Hyprop Foundation and Santa Shoebox Legacy:
The donation provided by the Hyprop Foundation will be allocated as follows:
Somerset West:
Training of two teachers each from 46 facilities in and around Sir Lowry’s Pass Village in Perpetual Skills as well as Duplo I- learning through play.
Fisantekraal:
Teachers from 11 ECD Centres have already completed Duplo I, so will receive Duplo II and Perceptual Skills training.
Khayelitsha:
Teachers from 31 ECD Centres will receive the Perceptual Skills training and either Duplo I or Duplo II – depending on what they have already completed.
Perceptual Skills:
This 3-hour course describes and gives hand-on examples of the eight principles that underpin perceptual skills: discrimination, constancy, symbol recognition, closure, analysis and synthesis, memory, sequencing, and figure ground.
Duplo:
The LEGO Foundation provides LEGO Play Boxes to organisations around the world that are supporting and working with children from disadvantaged and troubled environments. Each Play Box contains a variety of elements which are valuable as teaching and learning tools in any curriculum, from early childhood to adulthood. A Play Box provides opportunities for activities which promote skills development and learning through play.
C2BK (Cool to be Kind) anti-bullying training will also be conducted in early 2023, for all three areas.
C2BK (3-hours) equips both teachers and learners with the skills to be able to recognise and deal with bullying on various levels (physical, cyber, social, domestic, etc.).
About Hyprop Investments & Hyprop Foundation
Hyprop creates environments and opportunities for people to connect and have authentic and meaningful experiences by owning and managing a portfolio of dominant retail centres in key economic nodes in South Africa and Eastern Europe. The Hyprop Foundation is focused on advancing a culture of community involvement and sustainability in South Africa, specifically the role Hyprop shopping centres play in their local communities. Our philosophy and approach to the Foundation is to ignite a culture of involvement through our employees and stakeholders in sustainable projects resulting in a direct impact on our surrounding communities.
About Santa Shoebox Project
The Santa Shoebox Project is an inspiring community initiative that collects uniquely personalised gifts for underprivileged children. Equally, the project is about parents teaching their own children the Joy of Giving.
The gifts are distributed to children from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds, who may never have received a gift. The project is unique in that the donor knows the name, age, and gender of the child to whom the gift is given. The project is supported by an extensive network of volunteers across South Africa and Namibia – kind-hearted people who give freely of their time, energy, and expertise without remuneration. www.santashoebox.org.za
