Operation Christmas Child
- posted by: Cheryl
- posted in: Uncategorized, charity efforts
- on: July 10, 2009
Can you believe that there is only 143 days until Christmas. Wow! Well, I say that to share with you an organization dear to my heart. Some of you may have heard of Operation Christmas Child which is lead by Samaritan’s Purse.
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/
This is a wonderful organization reaches children in poverty to supply them with Christmas goodies, necessities and a shoebox full of more than just materials but love. For several years we lived in Africa and spent a lot of our time in Madagascar. For the longest time I wished for Operation Christmas Child to visit this island . . . to visit the village children . . . the street kids. Madagascar is not an island that is not very widely traveled. Right after we left to come home I found out that OCC did make it to Madagascar and that the village children nearby our previous home were recipients. I just imagined their faces when they received their shoeboxes of love. It was wonderful news.
I share this to tell you that our dear fiskateer Betsy #2572 will be be coordinating the baggage check fundraiser for the Scrappbook Expo in St. Charles, IL on August 21st and 22nd. Betsy and folks will be collecting supplies for Operation Christmas Child which will provide items for needy kids all over the world. People that wish to donate can drop things off at the baggage check booth at the St. Charles, IL Expo.
They will be collecting school supplies, markers, crayons, colored pencils, notebooks, coloring books, as well as small toys (non war related) wash rags, socks, hair bows, toothbrushes, and combs.
She also shared that there are still some volunteer spots available to help with the baggage check and supply collection. If you’d like more information please feel free to contact Betsy at lets_scrap2@juno.com. (Note the underscore between lets and scrap).
We enjoy filling a shoebox full of love and care as a family each year for a special child somewhere in the world. We enjoy shopping for that child and packing it with a special note and goodies. I know what a generous and caring community you are so I wanted to share with you the wonderful efforts that Betsy is putting forth and an opportunity to give if you feel this tugging on your heart.
I’ll leave you with a photo of my daughter when she was young with several beautiful Malagasy children. This is one of my favorite photos. While she didn’t look Malagasy . . . they called her Abby Gasy (not like the English gasy) . . . because she sure loved the lifestyle, the food and understood a lot of the language. She was definitely a whitee but she saw no difference. I love their expressions. This warms my heart that kids like these will get shoeboxes full of love. I just wish I could hand deliver them!
Laurie R. says:
July 10th, 2009 at 12:59 amOur church participates in this also. It is so much fun to fill boxes each year. If you have the opportunity to do this I highly recommend it. Thank You Cheryl for posting the information.
marcie says:
July 10th, 2009 at 1:07 amvery cool!! can we mail stuff or money to help with this??
Amy E. says:
July 10th, 2009 at 1:19 amI love this organization as well! We do this every year too. It’s a great chance to share with our kids about giving. And it’s so awesome to feel like we are making children smile!
Kathleen says:
July 10th, 2009 at 1:37 amWow Christmas is right around the corner isn’t it? This sounds like a wonderful event to help in this organization. The picture isn’t showing up for me but it sounds like a very special picture to have.
Pam Hoffman says:
July 10th, 2009 at 1:51 amwhat a lovely story about Abby! kids never do notice that sort of thing - “…they have to be carefully taught…” from South Seas
if we can put together a shoebox of goodies, will there be a place to bring them to have them sent over?
anything like this going on for children in our country? i can imagine doing more than one for needy kids.
thanks,
Pam Hoffman
http://seminarlist.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/PamHoffman
Krafty Wahine #395 says:
July 10th, 2009 at 2:31 amWTG, Betsy!! What a great idea! last year at the scrapbook expo, they collected food for the military families. They were very successful.
i wish you were closer. good luck!!
aloha, anita
Merlene #1166 says:
July 10th, 2009 at 5:51 amWhat a great charity. This is a good time to purchase school supplies for boxes too. The video was very informative about what to send aand how to pack it.
Jeannie #5377 says:
July 10th, 2009 at 8:58 amOur elementary school does this every year! We also love to see what all we can get into a box! One year Cinthia did the shopping all by herself and we ended up with four boxes! Good Luck gals! Thamks for the update and reminder!
Debby 2852 says:
July 10th, 2009 at 9:11 amWhat a wonderful photo. Yes, I love Operation Christmas Child.
Our church does this every October. AND a many volenteers goes to help check the boxes, wrap them and ready them for distribution. I love it. Way to go Betsy.
Betsy #2572 says:
July 10th, 2009 at 9:44 amThis group is so near and dear to me! We have done shoeboxes for the past 12-13 years and get letters back from the kids it’s so wonderful to hear how a simple shoebox effects their lives! If anyone wants more info on donating and such they can email lets_scrap2@juno.com–Betsy
Bethie #269 says:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:02 amwe do this every year too.:)
what a wonderful experience for you and your family to live in madagascar like that. i love the photo.
Susie says:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:22 amThis sounds like a wonderful charity.
Thank you for sharing. Susie
Terry Frias says:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:51 amI LOVE that photo, it is priceless!!!
I would love to participate, but won’t be in Illinois. Can I send money, or can you give me an address where I can send some items. xoxoxoxoxo me
Angela says:
July 10th, 2009 at 1:57 pmI have done OCC for years and years and used to coordinate it with the newspapers I used to work with in a small area of Florida.
I collect stuff all year long…you should see my closet now. I buy after holiday stuff (like stuffed bunnies and lambs at Easter, Christmas toys and things) when they are 75% and 90% off. Be sure to sign up for CVS ExtraCare card…they are good at doing great clearances there and you can use the extrabucks you earn to buy stuff for pratically free! I have left with big bags of 90% of clearance stuff or like .45 out of pocket after extrabucks!
Anyway, I also love school supply time when crayons are a quarter, colored pencils are 5/$1, etc. It’s like Christmas to me!
I usually have 6-10 boxes because I buy stuff all year long. I don’t say that to pat myself on the back but to share ideas.
I have received letters from four children that have received boxes from me over the years. I have scrapbook pages of occ that I thought I had on scrapbook.com and was going to link to, but I can’t find it.
Anyway, as you can see, as my friends tell me “I live and breathe Operation Christmas Child.” one day I will go volunteer at the plant in Atlanta…
wendy says:
July 10th, 2009 at 1:58 pmMy sons love being able to each put together a box for a child their own age. I think it’s a great experience for our children to be able to give so personally to another child and realize there are children who don’t have what they have. This is a great organization!
Julie O. says:
July 10th, 2009 at 3:13 pmI’m so glad that Betsy is doing this. How awesome!! Cheryl, that photo is just so very precious.
mary ann k. says:
July 10th, 2009 at 3:43 pmI would love to help , how would I go about doin that being that im out here in cali ?
Elizabeth #1802 says:
July 10th, 2009 at 4:26 pmIt is a great charity and I fill several boxes each year. I like to imagine the joyful faces of the children after they open their boxes!!! I always use plastic containers with lids that they can use for whatever else they need it for during the year!
Stephanie #3584 says:
July 10th, 2009 at 4:40 pmCheryl, this picture is so….I don’t even have words. It says so much. wow. What a great experience.
I’ve heard of this through Focus on the Family. Isn’t it Billy Graham’s son, Frank? that started this? such a great charity.
Kathy Schriefer says:
July 10th, 2009 at 4:41 pmThank YOU for providing this opportunity for folks to support Operation Christmas Child. I am a volunteer with OCC in northwestern PA. In February 2009 I was able to travel to the Dominican Republic to help distribute gifts there. I can tell you for a fact that these gifts are so needed and enjoyed. I’ve received about 400 letters from children who got our boxes over the past 13 years and I have a couple of them from Madagascar! So glad I got a chance to read this blog entry.
Kathy fisk 5588 says:
July 10th, 2009 at 8:58 pmHi,
This project is a great diversion from the Christmas rush. We have been doing it for a number of years together with a local church.
wanda #5068 says:
July 10th, 2009 at 10:15 pmI head up “Operation Christmas Child” at my church. Our goal this year is 100 boxes. This year I plan on handing out (wrapped) shoe boxes that will simply need to be filled by those who participate. Thank you sharing the word!!
Rita S says:
July 10th, 2009 at 10:29 pmWhat a wonderful photo and treasure of your mission memories. We love Operation Christmas child. Last year our church challenged everyone to participate in the Advent Conspiracy, and Operation Christmas child is always an annual mission. Christmas is not far away for sure!
Angela says:
July 10th, 2009 at 10:32 pmodd…I posted a long response to this today or I thought I did!
I have been involved in OCC for years…and I collect stuff all year long. I buy things from clearance carts, after holiday 75% and 90% clearances (easter bunnies and lambs, christmas toys/coloring books, etc) and I love school supply time…it’s like Christmas to me! You should see my closet with all the stuff..and I don’t say that to pat myself on the back but to say if you do it a little at a time it really adds up without hitting your pocket too deep. i usually have 6-10 boxes at the end of the year.
I thought I had posted my occ scrapbook layouts on scrapbook.com but I don’t see them there. I have had four children write to me over the years.
Anyway, as my friends say, I live and breathe OCC!
Angela says:
July 10th, 2009 at 10:32 pmoh it did post! wasn’t showing just now..hmmm
Groovy Deborah says:
July 11th, 2009 at 11:28 amI always have loved this project! It is so easy to do this one too, even if on limited bugdets.
Love the picture Betsy!!!
Deb♥
Jacquie Hart says:
July 11th, 2009 at 1:49 pmThis is awesome I will be helping with the baggage area and I am WAY EXCITED about this because this will be my first EXPO/convention. And I get to meet fellow Fiskateers!!!!!!!!!
Come on and sign up ya all it will be fun
~Sandy~ says:
July 12th, 2009 at 3:02 pmOur church is partnered with Helping Hands in Honduras and we get names and ages of specific children in their orphanage and our kids fill boxes for those children. I think its an awesome ministry opportunity for our kids to learn the importance of helping those in need.
mariah says:
July 13th, 2009 at 11:52 amour community has made shoe boxes for the operation Christmas child for several years already,and we plan on keeping it up, we have lots of fun doing it, we each pick 2 age groups,and fill a shoe box, one of our ladies left her name in one box, and she got a Thank you note last summer, now that motivates us even more.to me it’s a very good feeling, to know that these kids get those shoe boxes…