Breaking the Cycle of Poverty One Box at a Time
Posted by Liz Werner on March 25th 2008 in Organizations
Families participating in the Box Project meet face to face in Greenwood, Mississippi.The Box Project (www.boxproject.org) was started by Coretta Scott King in 1962 as a grassroots effort to provide material aid to people living in rural Mississippi and Georgia. Now, with over 40 years under its belt, the organization has expanded its outreach and programs but remains true to its mission, “to encourage and enrich the lives of families and individuals living in poverty in rural America by establishing meaningful relationships, promoting education, and offering material aid.” The organization offers many sponsorship and involvement opportunities with its Match Program leading the way. The set-up is simple: individuals and families can sign up to become a Box Project sponsor, whereby they are matched with a family living in rural poverty in the United States. Each month sponsors send a box filled with food, clothing, supplies and material aid to their matched family in order to assist them in the process of transitioning out of poverty.
Recipient families must be living below 150% of the national poverty level to qualify. A desire to better their situation through education, job training, and other efforts is also required to participate in the program. The organization notes that while monthly boxes sent are valued at $50 USD, the total amount including all donors’ gifts equals $1 million USD in annual direct aid. Sponsor families remain matched with their recipient family for an average of six years, with some matched for much shorter times, and some much longer.
Over time, the relationship grows. The two parties invariably become more than the “donor-recipient” label; they become friends. The Box Project encourages everyone involved to share and connect with one another, which often happens through letters. Moreover, Box Project executive director Susan Patneaude notes that many sponsors visit their families and invite their recipient families to their homes or on vacations. “Good relationships develop … what started out as [a] sponsor/recipient relationship becomes extended family, and the relationship is mutually caring and loving,” she says.
A family participating in the Box Project poses for a photo outside of their home in Greenwood, Mississippi.
Below is a personal story from a sponsor that exemplifies this unique relationship building:
My life changed many years ago. I was matched with my dear friend Annie and her family over 35 years ago. At that time, I lived in an apartment in the Bronx and Annie lived in a shack in Mississippi with her four children and her parents. Time went on. Annie’s father passed on, and her son with Cerebral Palsy also died. As for her children, some went into the service, some to other jobs. I moved to New Jersey and had problems with my now ex-husband who was abusive and drank. I divorced him and my life was in a mess. At that time, I could no longer send boxes, but Annie stuck by me, with comforting and sage advice. In time my life got better. Annie’s mother passed on and Annie’s grandchildren lived with her and helped her, as did her children. I don’t even remember what things I sent to Annie over the years, but she tells me it meant a lot to her family. So I will have to take her at her word. I have saved Annie’s letters, some from as long ago as the ` 70s. Now and then I re-read them and recall that time. Perhaps we have been good for each other…each there when the other needed someone. So today, which is my 65th birthday, I opened the front door to find a box from UPS with a California return address on it. Who could this be? What could it be? It was a beautiful sculpture in the African tradition. The tag reads, “She is a wise woman with a gentle countenance… gives thanks to the lord and offers him the very best of all she has”. I think the giver chose this piece and meant those words for me. Who sent it? It was from one of Annie’s daughters. The card just said “thanks for all the help you have given to my family”. Although I have written and spoken to another of Annie’s daughters who lives with her, I have not heard from this daughter since she was little. So this gift was such a surprise, but so appreciated. A few hours later came a knock at the door. It was an arrangement of flowers, a candle and a balloon from Annie and her family in Mississippi. All of this attention for me! I was in tears. A 35-year relationship. It has been a gift to me to have Annie in my life. Who can say who got the most out of it? I say me. Especially today.
Barbara S. - New Jersey
For more information visit: www.boxproject.org.
The Box Project, Inc.
P.O. Box 2266
Daytona Beach, FL 32115
1-800-268-9928
info@boxproject.org
March 25th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
A wonderful story of a relationship is shared here. Over the years I was Executive Director, there were similar but different experiences. Wonderful people on both sides of the relationship shared and gave to each other in many different ways. Thank you to all who have made this organization, The Box Project, Inc., work for the benefit of families living in poverty in this country and for the benefit to those who were matched with them.