Kamloops Chapter coordinator Taylor Bertoli showing an example of a shoebox that will be distributed during the holidays. (Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

SHOEBOX PROJECT KAMLOOPS CHAPTER

Shoebox Project collecting holiday gift boxes to uplift women in need throughout Kamloops

Nov 26, 2025 | 5:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — Collection has started for this year’s Shoebox Project in Kamloops, which brings holiday gifts to women navigating a variety of difficult life circumstances.

The idea is to fill a standard-sized, decorated shoebox with approximately $50 worth of gifts and other essentials, or donate monetarily to have a box put together on your behalf. Every year, the campaign delivers 400 shoeboxes to different organizations around the city.

“There are plenty of places we drop the shoeboxes off and donate them to,” explains Kamloops Chapter coordinator Taylor Bertoli. “One of them being the Mustard Seed, we have the Y Emergency Women’s Shelter, we have Elizabeth Fry Society, The Tree and a few others, the Kamloops Sexual Assault and Counselling Centre.”

Bertoli says the initiative is meant to give a mix of small luxuries, hygiene essentials and an encouraging note to someone who may not have received a present otherwise.

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“I think that part goes a long way because so often what we’re doing with these shoeboxes is… it’s more than a gift, it’s a way to say, ‘I see you, I care about you. You deserve something like this,'” she adds. “And it’s a way for the community to communicate that in the form of a gift, but again, with heart and soul in it.”

Those who want to participate can drop off their completed shoeboxes at the Generation Private Wealth office on Summit Drive, or donate to the Shoebox Project Kamloops Chapter online.

Contributions need to be sent in or dropped off by December 15.