While the COVID-19 pandemic is making this holiday season different from previous years, the Halifax Shoebox Project is trying to bring some cheer to women’s shelters in Nova Scotia.

“Understandably, it’s not the huge success that it normally is this time of year,” says Halifax coordinator Carole Rankin. “It’s been a rough year for a lot of people and especially for our shelters, so we’re just really struggling to do as much as we can with what little time we have left before Christmas.”

The Shoebox Project started as a national organization in Ontario in 2011. A Halifax chapter started in 2012 and has since been collecting donations for women and children living in shelters.

Typically, the charity suggests people fill shoeboxes with around $50 worth of items such as beauty products, toiletries and gift cards. People can then drop off their donations at one of several pickup locations where Shoebox Project volunteers will collect and deliver them to various shelters.

“We’ve grown significantly over the last few years; I would say 2016 we had a massive jump, and that was when we were able to deliver right across the province,” Rankin says.

Last year, she says the charity was able to reach every women’s shelter in Nova Scotia.

But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the charity has moved online this year where people can build a virtual shoebox — by selecting its wrapping paper, filling it with virtual gifts (the items are only representations) and leaving a personalized greeting — as a monetary donation.