Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes open door for Samaritan’s Purse to provide children, families, and communities access to clean water, food, clothing, shelter, medical assistance and more. There is no barriers – languages, culture, geography, or politics – that will stop the gift of joy and hope to these children in need.
This year the season of packing the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes is already under way. But it isn’t too late to participate. You can get shoeboxes at churches throughout your city. You do not have to get an official shoebox to participate. You can also get a plastic shoebox at a store near you and fill it up with essentials that a child might need. You can select to have your box given to a boy or a girl of various ages (2-4 years old, 5-9 years old, and 10-14 years old).
Are you wondering what you can pack in your shoebox? Essentially you could put school supplies, hygiene items, toys and other gifts, as well as a personal note. In order to help to send the shoebox, a donation of 10$ is suggested. Note that if you do not give over 20$ you will not received a tax receipt.
Here’s some ideas of what can be included in a shoebox.
Toys: Include items that children will immediately embrace such as toy cars, yo-yos, jump ropes, balls, toys that light up and make noise (with extra batteries), etc.
School Supplies: pens, pencils and sharpeners, crayons, markers, notebooks, paper, solar calculators, coloring and picture books, etc.
Non-liquid Hygiene Items: toothbrushes, bar soap, combs, washcloths, etc.
Accessories: T-shirts, socks, hats, sunglasses, hair clips, jewelry, watches, flashlights (with extra batteries), etc.
Crafts: Make your own items such as hair bows, finger puppets, and friendship bracelets.
However, some items are a big NO-NO. See the list below of items to AVOID packing in the shoebox: candy, toothpaste, used or damaged items, war-related items such as toy guns, knives, or military figures, chocolate or food, fruit rolls or other fruit snacks, drink mixes (powdered or liquid), liquids or lotions, medications or vitamins, breakable items such as snow globes or glass containers, aerosol cans.
So as part of this campaign, I have received an Operation Christmas Child LEGO kit. We have made the decision to build the box and send it as part of our OCC shoebox.
My two youngest kids dutifully build the OCC LEGO shoebox one morning this week. It was a special homeschool project for them. They love building LEGO and it was a special project for them to do. The kit contained bricks to build the shoebox and the wings as well as two minifigures, a bicycle and a dog. We also inserted the instructions in the box.
And voilà the OCC LEGO shoebox is ready to go!
We then packed the minifigures, the bike, the dog and the wings inside the box before putting it in the real shoebox. While packing the shoebox, Jasmine also inserted a few things that were small enough to go in it for more surprises (like elastics and a bracelet).
Jasmine packed the box carefully to make sure that everything could fit nicely in it. She had picked school items, a washcloth, toothbrushes, brush, hair items, a ball, and a doll among other things. Neatly packed at the bottom of the box was our OCC LEGO box which we hope will bring some smile to the little girl age 5-9 years old that will receive it.
Now all we have to do is bring it to our church when they will be collecting them.
If you are wondering where will the Canadian shoeboxes will be delivered this year, you can easily visualize their destination below. Sometimes I wish I would know where exactly our shoebox will be heading. But we pray that this shoebox will be a blessing for a little girl which could be close in age to our own daughter.
You do not have to pack a shoebox if you do not have the time. You can also pack one online at PackABox.ca. It is a fun project to do as a family or with friends. Organize a shoebox packing party if you want too.
Disclaimer: This blog post was possible because I was selected by Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. to promote the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes from Samaritan’s Purse. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.
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