Well, I like giving all year long, and I hope you do too, but this time of year provides some fun opportunities for helping others. One of my favorites is Operation: Christmas Child.
Many people have heard of OCC before, but here's a little explanation if you're unfamiliar with their work. OCC is an arm of Samaritan's Purse, an international relief program run by Franklin Graham. Samaritan's Purse has received top ratings from Charity Navigator, so you know they spend your money and distribute your gifts fairly and effectively. Samaritan's Purse provides aid to countries all over the world, including the United States, when there are natural disasters, health crises, political turmoil, and other problems that affect people. Operation: Christmas Child distributes boxes of school supplies, hygiene items and small gifts to children all over the world. The boxes are put together by regular people like you and me, and then are dropped off at designated spots all around the country, for collection and distribution by Samaritan's Purse.
This year, Brandon and I are sending off five shoe boxes full of goodies. We have put together as many as nine and as few as two in the past. I'm happy that we are able to send so many this year. OCC shoe boxes are a fun and affordable way to help others in need. I shop for my shoe boxes all throughout the year, picking up items on clearance and at great prices whenever I find them. I keep them in a shopping bag or a box somewhere in my home, and then start dividing the items up among boxes to donate to OCC. Sometimes I purchase inexpensive, clear plastic totes (the size of shoe boxes), which are sturdy and can be reused. Sometimes I send actual shoe boxes. This year, I am sending the easily-assembled cardboard boxes OCC produces, which you can order online, or try to find at a local church or shoe box drop-off point (one of my library patrons picked up a large order for her church, and I asked her if I could have a few. She sweetly obliged and gave me five shoe boxes from her church's order!)
OCC has some rules about what you can and can't send in the shoe boxes. School supplies like pencils, pens, crayons, and note pads are encouraged. Hygiene items have a few limitations: you can't send liquids like shampoo or sharp things like those super-pointy nail files, but you can send soap, wash cloths, floss, toothbrushes and toothpaste, band-aids and sanitizing wipes. You can send fun things like lip balm, hair accessories, sunglasses, and toys (as long as they aren't insensitive like toy guns.) Everything you can send in a shoe box is really inexpensive, particularly if you get them at rock-bottom prices. August is the perfect time to stock up on school supplies. You can find packages of pencils and erasers, pencil sharpeners, pencil cases, paint sets, and other things for as little as $0.10! Small toys can be found for great prices right after holidays like Easter, Valentine's Day and Halloween. Expanding "magic" wash cloths can be found at your local dollar store. Target's Dollar Spot section is full of fantastic finds, including little coloring books, fun sunglasses, hair things for little girls and all sorts of toys and activity sets for little boys (who can be a little harder to shop for.)
As an example, here are the contents of one of my shoe boxes this year:
- A Christmas-themed coloring and activity book
- A pack of Kleenexes
- A children's travel toothbrush, complete with a tube of toothpaste and a clear plastic cover
- A jump rope
- Disney princess flashcards
- Lip balm
- A tiny "Miss Manicure" set, with a little emory board, plastic nail cleaner, and nail clippers (no file)
- A box of crayons
- Two gluesticks
- Two erasers
- A journal
- A deck of Crazy 8's cards
- A pencil sharpener
- A pink pencil box, which I filled with glittery pencils (from a post-Easter clearance bin)
- A plastic soap box with a bar of plastic-wrapped soap inside
- A "magic" washcloth
- a box of Jolly Rancher fruit chews (on clearance!)
My mammaw also made a bunch of drawstring bags from different kinds and colors of fun fabric. She makes them for her church, which puts together lots of shoe boxes every year. This year my cousin and I also have bags to include in each of our shoe boxes, so the kids that receive them can carry whatever they want to in their own unique bag.
After I pack the boxes, I write a little note on one of last year's leftover Christmas cards, telling the child that will receive the box I hope they like what I've packed, and that I'm praying for them. I include my address in case they want to write to me. One year I did receive a letter from a 13 year old girl in Africa who got one of my shoe boxes! She told me about herself, and told me she loved what was in the box and that it would help her and her family a lot. She included her address so I could write back to her, but I had trouble reading part of it, and was unable to write her back, unfortunately. It did make my heart happy to know that my shoe box had safely made it to the hands of someone who needed it.
When it's time to turn in your shoe boxes, you can either print off a form and include a check to help cover the shipping costs (it now costs $7 to send a box) or you can pay online. If you pay online, you can print a box label with a barcode, to track your shoe box. Later, you'll receive an email from OCC telling you which country your shoe box was sent to! Last year, my shoe boxes went to Angola and Cameroon. I can't wait to find out where this year's boxes are headed!
Shoe box drop-off points can be found here. I usually take mine to Lifeway, where my mom works. This year their collection day is going to be on November 10. My shoe boxes are packed and ready to go. I have paid the shipping cost for two of them, and will go ahead and pay for the other three this weekend when my paycheck goes through. That's one of the things I love about this giving opportunity- you can literally work on it all year long, so your wallet doesn't take a big hit (which can be pretty stressful this time of year!)
I hope you will consider packing a shoe box for Operation: Christmas Child, if not this year, then the next. You can also find dozens of inspirational stories about the shoe boxes on their facebook page. Some of the stories are downright miraculous!
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