{"id":142043,"date":"2025-11-16T00:27:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T00:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/142043\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T00:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T00:27:08","slug":"it-doesnt-take-much-to-make-a-child-happy-how-a-caherdavin-lady-spreads-christmas-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/142043\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It doesn\u2019t take much to make a child happy\u2019: How a Caherdavin lady spreads Christmas joy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AT 88 YEARS old, Sigi Murrihy, originally from Germany and now a resident of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.limerickleader.ie\/section\/131\/news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Caherdavin Park<\/a>, is spreading Christmas joy, one shoebox at a time.<\/p>\n<p>For over a decade, Sigi has been part of Team Hope\u2019s annual shoebox appeal, helping bring gifts and hope to children affected by poverty across Africa and Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n<p>Sigi\u2019s passion for the cause is deeply personal as she remembers being a seven-year-old displaced child during the final year of World War II.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.limerickleader.ie\/news\/education\/1939968\/young-voices-invited-to-shape-the-future-at-limerick-youth-conference.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Young voices invited to shape the future at Limerick Youth Conference<\/a><\/p>\n<p>After her hometown of Freiburg was bombed in November 1944, Sigi and her mother fled to their relatives in the mountain village of Prevorst.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had no toys, I was very lonely and I had no friends,\u201d she recalled. \u201cOne day my older cousins gave me an old brown paper bag. I opened it and out came a doll. And for me that was heaven.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember saying to my mother, \u2018We don\u2019t have to go home anymore! I have a doll!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, Sigi\u2019s contribution to the shoebox appeal has grown remarkably. \u201cThe first year I had two shoeboxes,\u201d she said. \u201cThe second year I had four, and after that I had 64, then 124. The most I ever had was 230 shoeboxes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last year, she prepared 45 boxes, and she hopes to send between 40-50 this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know that with very little, you can make great joy to somebody who practically has nothing,\u201d said Sigi.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was in the slums in India, I was in Africa, and I have really seen poverty. If somebody would only pick up a shoebox and put in a few things, it doesn\u2019t cost much at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those inspired by Sigi\u2019s dedication can visit www.teamhope.ie to learn how they can also get involved.<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AT 88 YEARS old, Sigi Murrihy, originally from Germany and now a resident of Caherdavin Park, is spreading&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,67596,3221,61,60,1396,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-142043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-caherdavin","10":"tag-charity","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-limerick","14":"tag-limerick-city"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}