Women’s shelters see gift-filled shoeboxes for Mother’s Day

Dozens of colourful shoeboxes filled with small luxuries will be arriving at a number of New Brunswick's women's shelters in time for Mother's Day.

It's part of a national campaign, called The ShoeBox Project for Shelters, said organizer Cathy Simpson of the Saint John area.

​She says she only heard about the campaign last week, and immediately called her friends to action, seeking donations of items, such as perfume, chocolates and books.

The response was overwhelming, she said.

"By the end of the weekend, I had more boxes than [I needed for the Saint John shelter] Hestia House. So then I thought, 'Well, now what are we going to do? We have all these women who have said that they are going to provide them,'" Simpson told CBC's Information Morning Saint John on Friday.

"So with that, I was able to contact four other shelters, so now, today, we will be delivering over 40 boxes to women in shelters in Greater Saint John and Fredericton."

Simpson says the shoeboxes are a simple gesture that can help women in crisis.

They can also help those who contribute, she said.

"Women can have a very positive impact and what's interesting is, I sent the note out to friends, who then shared it on Facebook. And last night, I had a mom drop down at my house, a stranger, I had never met her before. She came with two boxes. She got all choked up and she said, 'You know, I lost my mom and this gave me something to fill that void this year.'"

Moncton runs a similar campaign, but Simpson would like to see the program expanded to include all transition houses in the province.