Have you packed your shoebox yet?
This week is National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child. OCC delivers shoe boxes of gifts to needy children all over the world. In 2008, over 8 MILLION shoe boxes were collected from families in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, and Ireland. These precious boxes, filled with gifts for kids who otherwise would have no Christmas, were delivered in countries all over the world.
Children in Africa receive their gift boxes
As you start your own holiday planning and the to-buy lists for your kids grow miles in length, why not take some time and take your kids to the store to make Christmas great for a child in another country? It’s easy: Just get a shoe box, choose if it will be a for a boy or a girl, fill it with gifts, include a $7 donation to help cover shipping and project costs, and drop off at one of the thousands of locations. Everything you need to know can be found RIGHT HERE.
Most of us want to teach our children that it is more blessed to give than to receive…well, here’s your chance.
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Turned our boxes in today! My girls had fun packing them. Thanks for letting others know about OCC!
I am glad you posted about OCC too. Our church has done it for 3-4 years now. The first two years, I taught Children’s Church and we did it as part of our lessons, watching the videos and talking about the whole project. The first year, one girl who was about 10 earned money and spent it all on items for a box. What a blessing for these little ones – who in our country generally have so very much – sometimes too much.
Our church is doing this too. This post reminded me to post about it on facebook! Yeah…I hope others experience this blessing of giving. Thank you Janet!
What a great idea! We already do a giving tree, but for that we’re getting gifts and clothing specifically requested by a local child. I love the idea of doing this, too, so that my children get the chance to think about what other children their age might like to receive.
Our kids love doing this!
Our homeschool 4H group just packed 41 boxes Thursday.
The kids love packing up boxes and like to guess the reactions of the recipients as they open them.
Thank you so much for posting this. I saw something on this last year, but it was too late. I rescued 2 shoeboxes from recycling and will have my DD help me fill them. We love doing this sort of thing.
My girls’ school is doing this for the second time. We have our shoebox ready to go and will head to the Dollar Store today to fill it. A totally do-able project with great impact and a good teaching experience for my kids too.