Boxmas – AMSA Australia

Name of the activity: Boxmas

Country/NMO: AMSA Austria

Program: Emergency, Disaster Risk & Humanitarian Action

Contact information: contact [email protected] to get in touch with the Activity Coordinator

Type of the activity: Replicating Activity

Category: Third-party Activity

Focus area: Populations in emergency, disaster and post-disaster settings

Sustainable Development Goals addressed: SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities)

General description:

Boxmas is an activity where try and support local charities by collecting boxes with donations in kind. 

This year we worked with Jugendland GmbH an organisation that supports children and young people in Tyrol, Austria. Among other projects they run a home for Ukrainian children and families that were displaced in the war. 

To support the children we asked what they needed and then asked the public, especially medical students, to put them in boxes., that could be given to the children.

Problem statement:

Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine over 16 Million people have been displaced, about half of them left their country and tried to find a new home elsewhere in Europe. About 90 000 are now in Austria. Often families have been separated. While most European countries are much more willing to help Ukrainians than other refugees the support given to the displaced people is often still lacking. Especially toileteries but also clothes and access to school materials is lacking. 

Target groups:

• General population
• Medical students
• Children
• Youth
• Migrants
• Refugees

Beneficiaries:

• Children
• Youth
• Migrants
• Refugees

Objectives:

1. A) Collect boxes to support the children in the Jugendland home. The boxes should contain things that will help to improve the quality of live and mental state of the children. 

IOS1: collect at least 25 boxes with 4 things items each 

IOS2: collect at least 100 boxes, so each child can receive a box

IOS3: give out a list of items that needed, to ensure that our help is meaningful. 

IOS4: every child should receive at least one “”useful”” item according to their needs

1. B) reach out to medical students and the wider public about our activity to inform them of the situation of refugee children and to encourage them to help

IOS1: have at least 3 other social media sites share our post

IOS2: achieve at least 50 likes on our post

IOS3: have at least 200 views on the story

IOS3: have people from different demographics dropping of boxes: at least 2 people with boxes who appear to be >35yo, at least 2 people <35yo

Indicators of Success:

1. A) IOS1: there are roughly 100 children in the home. While the items and needs are very different we would like there to be on average one item per child at least

IOS2: It would be even better if each child could receive their own box. In order to achieve that we need at least a hundred boxes. 

IOS3: Informing people of the actual needs will help, so they know what to donate

IOS4: the actual items might differ from the list

1. B) IOS1: a lot of people might not interact directly with our post. By asking other accounts to share it we can reach a wider audience. 

IOS2: Most of our posts receive about 40 likes. If half the people who like our post drop off a box we would reach IOSA1

IOS3: visualisations are only visible for stories but they might be a better indicator for the number of people reached. 

IOS4: while we primarily address medical students we would also like to reach other people. Since most people do the drop-off in person we can get an idea who is dropping of boxes

Methodology:

Mid November: 

– 1st meeting: plan the activity and distribute roles: contact to partner organisation, contact to uni, social media

– contact Jugendland, coordinate drop-off, ask for a list of things they need.

– Contact University and ask them for a place where we can collect the boxes that is visible and easily reachable for students

Early December: 

– design advertisement for Instagram and posters with

dates for collection (at least 2)

a list of necessary items

brief information on the war, the refugee crisis and Jugendland

ask people to put an even number of items (4) in each box and drop them off with us

– start advertisement: Instagram, ask for reposts, putting up posters in uni

– reach out to people to help with collecting the boxes (make a rota)

Late December (before uni ends):

– collect the boxes in university

– drop them off with the organisation

– social media

January

– documentation (contacts, timeline) for future reference

– call Jugendland for debrief/ evaluation

Plans for evaluation:

“A) IOS1 & 2: count the number of boxes collected

If people drop off individual items without a box or boxes that contain more than for items 4 items count as one box. 

IOS3: Did we receive a list and were we able to give it out to people?

We cannot control the content of the boxes since many people put wrapping paper around, but if we talk to people during the collection we might be able to get an idea whether the list was helpful for them.

IOS4: Contact the organisation again after Christmas to ask them about their impression of the project, whether the boxes helped the situation of the children and how they would improve the activity if we wanted to repeat it

1. B) IOS1: How many other instagram sides (university, other student organisations) shared our post?

IOS2: how many people liked our post?

IOS3: how many people watched our story?

IOS4: how old were the people who came by to drop off boxes. 

External collaborations:

Jugendland GmbH (www.jugendland.at)

They are a Tyrolean non-profit that support children and young people in different activities. They have been running an orphanage for a while, since the start of the war in Ukraine they have opened a bigger orphanage for Ukrainian refugee children.