Tongeren-Borgloon (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – PVDA Tongeren-Borgloon’s “Empty Shoes Campaign” collected toys for the 2nd year, donating gifts to Gastama and Connect2Shine. Peter Vandevelde, Ivo Cauberghe, and Sonja Hiemeleers led distribution.
As VRT News reported, for the 2nd year in a row, the Tongeren-Borgloon PVDA, in the province of Limburg, Belgium, organised its “Empty Shoes Campaign” to bring gifts to children during the holiday season.
People donated toys through neighbours, family, and colleagues. Many others responded after seeing the call on Facebook. Peter Vandevelde of PVDA Tongeren-Borgloon said the collection included cuddly toys, picture books, puzzles, board games, and remote-controlled cars. The collected gifts are now being given to 2 local charitable associations.
What gifts did PVDA Tongeren-Borgloon collect for children this holiday?
One of the organisations receiving gifts from the PVDA’s “Empty Shoes Campaign” is Gastama. The name comes from Esperanto and means “hospitable.”
“In Tongeren, we take in refugees who are referred to us by the Public Centre for Social Welfare (OQMW), for example,”
explains Ivo Cauberghe.
“On Monday, the toys will be distributed to those in need through our volunteers.”
The 2nd organisation benefiting from the campaign is Connect2Shine, which operates in Bilzen-Hoeselt. Connect2Shine helps people living in poverty by providing donated items.
“These can range from clothing to bathroom or kitchen utensils and so on,”
explains Sonja Hiemeleers.
“The PVDA (Workers’ Party of Belgium) chose our organisation to give children in poverty a nice Sinterklaas gift. We’re distributing the toys at Sint Deelplein in Bilzen.”
The Workers’ Party of Belgium is also known by the acronym PVDA. It has been around since 1979, and it came out of the labour and socialist movements that began in the 1970s. Since then, they have focused on creating local community projects to support those in need. A recipient of donations from the “Empty Shoes” campaign, GASTAMA was started in 1999 and became a registered non-profit organisation in 2006.
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