Tallaght student leads Team Hope shoebox drive for Ukrainian children

A Tallaght Technological University student is urging the Irish public to donate Christmas shoeboxes for children in Ukraine.

Maks Hudyma, 22, fled Kyiv with his mother Oksana in 2020 after a night of explosions that forced him to seek safety in Ireland. He now lives with a family in Wicklow and is in his third year of pharmaceutical studies.

Recalling a shoebox he received at age 12, Hudyma says the gifts – sweets, school supplies and toiletries – gave him a sense of hope during the war. He is now asking people to send similar boxes to Ukrainian children through the charity Team Hope.

Team Hope aims to deliver 200,000 Irish shoeboxes to Ukraine before Christmas, part of a wider effort that has already supplied three million gifts worldwide. Completed boxes can be dropped off at any of the 400 collection points across Ireland or at Mr Price outlets between 1 and 10 November, or a €25 donation can fund a box until Christmas Eve.

Team Hope CEO Deborah Lowry highlighted Hudyma’s personal experience as a powerful reminder of the lasting impact of simple kindness.

Source: Dublin Gazette. Photo: Sambok pen / Pexels.