Santa’s Good Girls and Boys
In September I briefly mentioned how packaging can be
educational, citing the Boomerang Box program started by the global
transportation company, APL. Well, the Box is comin’ ’round again.
School children, wondering what they can do to help those in
need, are now involved in a project — growing out of the original
Boomerang Box program — that will deliver toys and educational material
valued at $500,000 to a developing country this holiday season.
The Boomerang Box, a 40-foot cargo container decorated with
colorful artwork done by children, is about to begin a new adventure focused on
how people help
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other people in time of need. The adventure, called the Great
Toy Challenge, is as much about transport packaging and logistics as doing the
right thing. The Boomerang Box has been loaded with toys and learning material
donated by Toys R Us. It will be shipped to a mystery destination where the
toys will be distributed to needy children by international relief organization
CARE. Participating classrooms will be able to use their geography skills to
guess the mystery destination, and will have a chance to win a cash donation
from APL for the charity of their choice.
Students around the world can log on to a special Web site
and guess the mystery destination by deciphering the clues posted on the
Boomerang Box Great Toy Challenge link. Teachers may send in their
classrooms’ guess via the Internet only. The Web site also features a
wealth of curriculum material on geography, trade and international relief.
“International trade helps unite countries around the
world,” says Ed Aldridge, APL’s president for the Americas.
“We think it’s vital that school children understand the role trade
and international relief efforts play in our lives.” Although planning
for the Great Toy Challenge was under way earlier in the year, Aldridge says
the project took on even more meaning after the September terrorist attacks.
“The partnership between companies and organizations
in the Great Toy Challenge project is just one of many such
collaborations,” Aldridge says. “We are deeply appreciative of Toys
R Us and CARE for their support.”
According to Aldridge, APL will make donations of $500 each
to local, national or international charity or relief organizations on behalf
of 10 classrooms that correctly guess the container’s mystery
destination.
The toy shipment bound for the mystery country contains
educational and learning material including puzzles, crayons, markers, art
paper, plastic and wooden blocks, toddler learning toys, games and
playground-type items including basketball hoops, soccer goals and jump ropes.
“Toys R Us is pleased to offer a terrific opportunity
for children to participate in a fun event while contributing to the well-being
of other children around the world,” says Michael Jacobs, vice president,
worldwide transportation.
Over the last four years, the 40-foot Boomerang Box has
traveled more than 140,000 miles teaching young people around the world about
global trade, logistics, transportation, geography and the people and customs
of other lands. Students in classrooms around the world track the Boomerang Box
via the Internet as part of APL’s interactive learning program.
The program is currently in use at more than 200 schools
worldwide. The Web site averages 1,000 hits per month. APL has received e-mail
communications about the Boomerang Box from teachers and students around the
world and in 35 U.S. states.
The program is the essence of the 1969 Crosby, Stills and
Nash tune, Teach Your Children: Teach
your children well, their fathers’ hell, they will not live by.
Clyde E. Witt
executive editor
cwitt@penton.com
