A CONTAINER packed with almost 8,000 shoeboxes will leave the North-East today to bring a late Christmas present to children caught up in the Asian tsunami.
The special delivery is being co-ordinated by Operation Christmas Child, the annual campaign which delivers boxes of gifts to children in Eastern Europe.
A number of donations which came in too late for the Christmas distribution are now being sent to Indonesia.
Steve Whaley, regional manager for Operation Christmas Child, said: "The 2004 donations from the public in the North-East were quite outstanding.
"We reached and passed the target we had set ourselves, not just in our area but in the UK, with a nationwide record total of 1,140,000 shoeboxes being dispatched.
"However, with a surplus of late donations available, we thought the best use we could make of these was to send them off to Indonesia."
Samaritan's Purse International - the organisation behind Operation Christmas Child - has had a number of aid teams on the ground in Indonesia and Sri Lanka since the tsunami struck, helping to organise clean water supplies, provision of shelter, food and other essentials.
Mr Whaley added: "The gifts from the North-East will bring a little brightness to the youngsters as they and all the people of this devastated area work to rebuild their shattered lives."
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