Icelanders send thousands of shoe box gifts to Ukraine

Volunteers and community members in Reykjavík, Iceland, are preparing shoe boxes filled with gifts for children in Ukraine.

The project, known as Jól í skókassa, has sent these donations to Ukraine for 23 years. While the initiative initially collected around 500 boxes, the volume of donations has grown to several thousand each year. Each box must contain at least one item from five specific categories: school supplies, toys, hygiene products, clothing, and sweets.

Volunteers inspect and sort all boxes before they are loaded into containers for transport. These donations will travel to Kirovohrad, a city in Ukraine experiencing high poverty and unemployment. The project provides gifts to children in low-income homes, orphanages, and hospitals. Volunteer Mjöll Þórarinsdóttir says the initiative is especially important following the outbreak of war in Ukraine. The final shipment of gifts is scheduled to depart for Ukraine on Monday.