Our church passed out boxes on Sunday for everyone to start collecting items for Operation Christmas Child. Zoe at first thought the box was for her, so we quickly explained to her that this is for a child that doesn’t have many if any toys and might be there only Christmas present. Then she was ready to fill it with her own toys. I was very touched at her gesture but told her we were actually going to go shopping together and she could help pick some things out. We told her that we wanted to fill up the boxes with new things and you should have seen how excited she was. I really love teaching both of my children to have a giving heart.
I am not the only one out there as kids and families across America are in a giving mood this fall. Operation Christmas Child will make a huge difference in the lives of more than 8 million needy children this year, including kids in Haiti, where the youngest victims of the earthquake are in desperate need of encouragement and hope.
It all starts with a shoe box and those are easy to find. The whole thing amounts to a simple gift that has the power to bring hope to struggling children around the world by letting them know they are loved and not forgotten. For many of these children, this will be the first gift they have ever received. We’ve asked Zoe to try and imagine not every having a toy, and she seems to get the idea. She makes a sad face and puts her hands to her mouth with a gasp. I know as a family we’re excited to be apart of this and I hope you will consider it too!
A kids-helping-kids project of international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, Operation Christmas Child hand-delivers shoe boxes packed with school supplies, toys, necessity items and often a hand-written note of encouragement. Sometimes if you leave your name and address in the box the children will write you back and thank you! I know Zoe would love that a LOT!
But kids aren’t the only ones getting involved. Churches, school groups, scout troops and businesses are also busy collecting and filling shoe box gifts.
Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has hand-delivered shoe box gifts to more than 77 million hurting children in more than 130 countries. Staff and volunteers use whatever means necessary—ships, trucks, buses, trains, airplanes, boats, camels, even dog sleds—to reach suffering children. It is an amazing ministry.
Samaritan’s Purse uses tracking technology that allows donors to “follow your box” to the destination country where it will be hand-delivered to a child in need. To register shoe box gifts and find out their destination country, use the EZ Give donation form found at www.samaritanspurse.org. To volunteer or learn how to pack and send an Operation Christmas Child shoe box gift, call (800) 353-5949 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org. National Collection Week for gift-filled shoe boxes is Nov. 15-22; however, shoe box gifts are collected all year at the Samaritan’s Purse headquarters in Boone, N.C.
My church does this too! Last year our church was the collection center for the whole area, and my husband spent a whole Saturday helping to pack up the shoeboxes and load them into a huge truck. I can’t believe it’s almost that time again.
Love the photo of your daughter with a shoe box gift!