Trick or Treat for UNICEF Boxes begin to Circulate in Thurston County

0 Shares

 

Submitted by Ellen Rice

Unicef Halloween BoxesIt was a mistake. In late October of last year, local resident Ellen Rice received a shipment of 22,000 Trick or Treat for UNICEF boxes. The errant shipping company offered to take the cartons to the dump, but the Rices wanted the boxes to have a chance to do their job of helping students learn about children around the globe who are helped by UNICEF. Family and friends rallied to help distribute the coin boxes and at the end of a very busy week, several thousand boxes had been handed out.

Jan Sharkey, a family friend, offered to store the boxes in her heated storage area over the winter. As the weather warmed into spring, Ellen began contacting school districts and community leaders, saying, “The boxes are here. This is Captain America time. We can save lives with this.”

Now the coin boxes are being distributed across Thurston County. The first person to offer help was Ken Storman of Ralph’s Thriftway. “I’m sure we can offer the boxes,” he said in July. Now there is a tray of UNICEF boxes at Ralph’s Thriftway for shoppers to take home. The Griffin and Rainier School Districts were the first school participants to ask for cartons, with the Olympia School District and Faith Lutheran also recently asking for boxes.

The Timberland Regional Libraries have rolled out the welcome mat and patrons can pick up individual boxes at the Olympia, Tumwater or Lacey libraries. The Olympia Farmer’s Market and the Arbutus Folk School also volunteered to be distribution points.

Children can collect coins or earn donations during October – especially at Halloween! Each family then turns their coin collection into a Coinstar machine at Ralph’s Thriftway, Albertsons, Fred Meyer, QFC, or Haggen Foods. Dave’s Market in Tenino and Bailey’s IGA in Rochester also have Coinstar machines. A contributor pours the coins in the tray and selects “Donate” and then “UNICEF” to make the donation.  (The machines at Safeway and Walmart do not have a UNICEF option).

And the lady with the truckload of cartons? Ellen says, “We have several thousand boxes to go, but we’re off to a great start. People can learn about the work of UNICEF on their website.  It’s got a top rating at Charitynavigator.org.  The most important thing to me is that this is one of the rare chances our children have to truly make a difference in the world they are about to inherit. We need their visions for a more caring world.”

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
0 Shares