Aww, that's really sweet. Pets are such important members of the family :) I always think it's fantastic when people rescue animals rather than buying them. I was looking at rescuing a cat from a shelter but eventually it worked out that someone near us was trying to rehome 2 kittens so we took them on because they just seemed perfect for us.
I'm hoping that I'll get round to donating some cat things to our local shelter now, particularly if they're alright with taking as-new items since cats are so fussy I always have tonnes of basically brand new toys that they just don't like the look of :D The local shelter here is running a shoebox drive as well, so thanks for inspiring me to look it up - I really would never have thought of it but for your post :)
Thanks for all the lovely comments in here... and I just want to say I hope the helpful male helper was me! 
Merry Christmas to you all!
Michael
You helped me once on live chat Michael and you were very helpful! I was a bit nervous at first about talking to a male staff member but you were totally professional and and friendly and really helped me 
I have only had the need to converse with the help department once but was extremely pleased by the desire to help and the lengths that she went through to obtain a satisfactory answer for me. Good Job LH. Pleased with the entirety of the site and forums.