Day 17 - From Guildford to the Ukraine (and Serbia) with love

And so with the final shoebox packed into a carton, the last space on the lorry filled, the last table collapsed and the last chair stacked, the lorry disappeared round the corner and the warehouse was empty again.
But let's not be too sad, it was a great day, there are lots of photos and most importantly we get to do it all again next year!!! (and for those "lucky" few, they can return on Monday and load the remaining cartons for Serbia.!)



Oh and the final total, do you really want to know????   Do you think we beat last year?????

YES!!!!  a truly record beating 16, 326 boxes !

It was also Ted's naming day, and you may remember that The Bear Garden, who had donated him, had chosen his names and these names were also guessed by our volunteers for a small donation.  The announcement came at coffee time.

So please let me introduce you to

Crispin Viktor Roman

Wendy had guessed the name Crispin and Anne had guessed Viktor.  Roman was one of the few names not selected so Elizabeth helped out there.

So happily Ted can now apply for his passport and get himself some personalised luggage, ready for his trip to Kyrgyzstan in March.

Where has it all gone?

Everyhone has a hand in the last carton

The rest of the morning was spent packing the last cartons, packing up, tidying and returning the warehouse to its more natural empty look.




 Then at 12:00 noon exactly, the lorry and its driver, who had been patiently waiting since yesterday afternoon, drove into the warehouse and loading commenced. It was a similar pattern to last week's container loading except the lorry held an extra 300+ cartons, so muscles were definitely tiring at the end. When the doors closed an incredible 10,511 shoeboxes were on board, approximately half from the Esher warehouse and half from Guildford.

Those who don't load, knit!!

An impressive human chain

Ted can't miss a photo opportunity!

From Guildford to the Ukraine

Once loaded, another warehouse tradition could take place - the giving of a gift to the driver. The volunteers recognise that often the lorry drivers are local to the destination country and may themselves live in under-privileged conditions. As such, a collection of various non-perishable food items is made over the 3 weeks, and is given to the driver for his family and community. This year was no exception and a large box and hamper were handed over. The driver could speak very little English but he was genuinely touched by the gift and indicated that he had a family of two children back at home.

So, with the lorry dispatched and the warehouse cleared apart from the remaining cartons for Serbia, where could Ted, sorry Crispin, be?  - already taking his first steps in his journey to Kyrgyztsan as he left the warehouse with Christine. Christine, we're looking forward to future instalments of his journey!









And so this blog has come to an end, a really big thank you to everyone who has read it, passed it on, participated in it, put up with the questions and co-operated with all the photos. It's been a wonderful three weeks and I hope the blog has captured some of the life of the warehouse community. If it has encouraged more people to get involved, at any level, that is wonderful; but we wouldn't be here at all if it wasn't for the shoeboxes and the children that so desperately need to receive them -  so please, please, spread the word and let's smash that shoebox record next year!

See you in 2012 !