Shipping is a LOT of work, but goodness, just look in any distribution album to see the happy faces of the recipients!
Some people may appear rather straight-faced. Well, that is due to being entirely overwhelmed and also, culturally-speaking, it is considered rude to smile for such a serious event. It takes some prompting to get most to smile!
When the timing is right (meaning we have the funds, the space, and the time), a collection starts in Aurora. Countless hours are put into getting things ready before goods can leave Ontario. After the trip(s) to the shipper near Toronto's Pearson Airport, there is the 2 month voyage. Then someone from Dekpor has to travel to Accra to secure a trotro and load it at the shipper in Ghana, travel back to Dekpor, and do a lot of sorting before a distribution can take place. With hundreds of eager recipients, it is a challenging job to get photos of everyone.
Note:
- Cell phones, tablets, laptops and portable sewing machines remain the most NEEDED items.
-
Always contact Carol first before dropping off anything, please. We can share a list of items that we accept.
Financial allocations to the shipping fund are always appreciated!
Albums
March 4, 2024 - Shipment of 25 items by Carol
Collection photos in Ontario. Note: the shoes (one shipping bag full) and medical supplies (two suitcases) will be leaving with the next shipment because Carol's van hit tilt!
Distribution late June. (This shipment was delayed!) Here is the album!
April 3 & 6, Carol's van x 2 and Natalie in the Lori Pedersen Home van
Several shoe drives were being held and it became very clear that this was going to overflow the garage space if a trip to the shipper wasn't done in advance of receiving them all. On April 3rd, Carol took one load of goods (chairs, clothing, sewing goods, water bottles, +) and then on April 6th all of the shoes along with backpacks, water bottles, dental necessities, and some other goodies left. All collection photos are in one album.
Distribution in June. Loads of pics and we are including them all so that hopefully people from York Region can find their donated items!
Album #1 Pick up, prepping the library, distribution of: shoes, water bottles, backpacks, some clothing
Album #2 Distribution of: shoes, water bottles, backpacks, some clothing
Album #3 Distribution of: shoes, water bottles, backpacks, some clothing
May 23 (3 shipping bags, 7 suitcases taken by Carol)
Shoes, instruments, baby clothes, sewing machine, serger, sheets, and sewing items. There is the usual wild and wonderful assortment of goods in this small shipment. Photos are here...thanks to all who donated!
Distribution in August! Take a look at the photos!
July 11th (2 desks, 8 shipping bags, 27 suitcases, 3 bikes) - Taken by Natalie and Carol
It's a whole assortment of goodies. More than 70 people contributed! A big thanks to Shameela, Stephanie, Natalie, and Carol for letting their porches be drop-off locations. A special thanks to Natalie Cameron who borrowed the company vehicle from Lori Pedersen Home (thanks, Lori!) to drive to the shipper and to Natalie's daughters, Sam and Rachel, for helping load everything in Aurora.
Photos of the collection of the items from Aurora and Newmarket are here.
Picked up in Ghana on September 1st! A quick arrival! Note: 2 desks and 2 of the suitcases didn't fit into the container so will show up in the container with the crates of Kids Against Hunger Food!
July 28th (188 boxes of food!) - Carol and Natalie team up to transport again! (And a big thanks to Sam and Rachel for the muscle-power! And Lori for the use of the Lori Pedersen Home van)
As part of Love Week 2024, Elevation Church donated 188 boxes of Kids Against Hunger Canada food. This is an incredible gift that will help many of our Dekpor families! See the Feeding Hungry Children project page for more info. This shipment arrived early October.
Photos of the prepartion and shipping are here!
The boxes of food were split into two shipments.
The distribution photos are here! See those happy faces!
August 24th - 10 items taken by Carol
In an attempt to have a few weeks without a garage full of Dekpor goods, a shipment was taken today. Fabric, 2 sewing machines, a phone, laptop, tablets, water bottles, clothing, shoes, and more.
Here is the album of the items leaving -- thanks to those who gave!
The load was picked up October 22nd and distributed over a two week period.
Distribution photos:
September 28th - 37 items taken by Natalie and Sam
This doozy of a shipment was a combo of efforts from Aurora Preparatory Academy, Aurora FC/Aurora Youth Soccer Club, and the wonderful Aurora-Newmarket Pass It On group!
20 shipping bags, 2 boxes, 4 chairs, 13 suitcases, and a small package. What is included? The whole typical mish mash of everything! Sewing machines, cell phones, tech items, baby clothes, construction saftey wear, shoes, fabric, sewing notions, medical supplies, educational goods and more! Thanks to all who gave! Shameela, Stephanie, and Carol offered their porches as drop off locations and Natalie saved a whole lot of Carol trips by using the Lori Pedersen Home vehicle. (This was likely 3 typical loads worth of goods!)
Here is the collection album.
Distribution will happen early December. Come back to see the photos! Oh, and it may be a little confusing because it appears that the shipper is combining this huge load with the October 15th load, too!
October 15th - 13 items taken by Carol
This was a quiet shipment due to the fact that so many people had privately contacted Carol. 13 items filled the van (8 suitcases, 3 shipping bags, 1 bike, and 1 stack of kindergarten chairs)! Here is the collection album...and a thanks to those who gave! See the home page and scroll down to October 12th in the Latest News section to read the list of contributors, or take a look at the photos instead!
Distribution is likely to happen in December.
October 23rd - 159 stacking chairs by Carol and Natalie
After years of searching, the stars aligned today. 159 beautiful blue stacking chairs were found, purchased, picked up, and taken to the shipper. A massive thanks to Natalie for using the Lori Pedersen Home vehicle, yet again, to help Carol make this as smooth as it possibly could have been!
Here are a few pics (Hey, how exciting can a bunch of blue chairs be?)
Photos of these in the Dekpor Basic School library hall are expected by late December or early January.
November 4th - 24 stacking chairs taken by Carol
Fun thing! The seller from the previous 159 chairs sent contacted Carol to say there were 24 more. Boom--from Aurora to Scarborough to get the chairs and then for the second time in a two week span, tackling the rush hour traffic to the shipper. Done!
Here are a couple of pics of the chairs.
November 9th - 51 stacking chairs taken by Carol
Thanks to Lourita Lue-Shing for noticing a Marketplace ad, Carol was able to take a hike to St. Catharines to visit Knights of Columbus Council 1394. The group kindly donated 51 stacking chairs! Thanks to Bev Don, Brian, and Peter for making this possible!
The photos are here.
The chairs are expected to arrive early January 2025.
