Fiona Harvey, along with her friend Niamh Taggart will join a team from Drop Inn Castlederg to distribute the donated shoe boxes. 

Speaking about what motivated her to get involved Fiona said, “My friend Niamh had sent me a video and asked me if I would like to go. When I watched it I saw the excitement of these children who were opening a box with things like toothpaste inside. I just thought ‘wow’. I wanted to help, it’s only three days of my time but it may have a lifelong impact on these kids.”

Fiona said she has been overwhelmed by the generosity shown by local people. 

This generosity has meant the team are now set to deliver thousands of shoe boxes.

“I had uploaded a post to Facebook and I couldn’t believe how many people shared it and how the community had come together to get behind this. People were landing to the house with items, it was really encouraging. It really shows you that people have a heart for causes like this and reach out to help those less fortunate.” 

Everything is wrapped and ready to go now and the team are packing their bags to jet off. 

“There is a group of girls from Enniskillen and Castlederg going. We head out on 6 December for three nights. We fly out that morning and it is just going to be all go. We are delivering shoe boxes to orphanages and schools.”

This is the first time that Fiona has taken part in an outreach programme of this magnitude. While admitting that it will undoubtedly ‘tug on the heartstrings’ Fiona says that she wanted to help less fortunate children in a practical way. “I am hoping to show God’s love in a practical way, that is the purpose of this trip,” she concluded.