“Mom, I want to respect the world.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to help poor people mom.”
That was a true conversation I had with Nutty just a few days ago. I’m not sure where it came from, but I am so glad she wants to give back, and I had just the thing to help her “respect the world.”
I discovered Operation Christmas Child a few months ago. It is a non-profit organization that inspires people to pack shoe boxes with Christmas gifts for children in developing countries around the world. Filling a shoe box is the perfect way to teach your children values such as compassion, kindness, and generosity.
After telling Nutty and Tottie about the shoe box gifts, and showing them some Operation Christmas Child videos (because they just couldn’t quite understand it with a simple explanation), they were all excited about packing their first box!
We ran to our local Dollar Store and Target to find some gifts that not only would fit in a shoe box, but also that my girls would love to have for themselves. After all, I’m trying to teach my girls that sometimes it’s better to give than to receive and being generous means that you give things that you may want to keep.
I wrapped the box in Christmas paper and the girls filled it up with the loot we bought at the store. The girls kept talking about the girl who would recieve the box. They wondered where she lives and what she looks like. Nutty wrote a letter and both drew a picture for the girl. We included our address in the letter in hopes that our recepient might write back to us.
We are extremely excited to drop off our box at our local drop off site and track to see where it goes!
Have you created an Operation Christmas Child shoe box with your children? If not, here’s how you can do it: Read below or watch the How to Pack a Box video.
1. Use an empty shoe box (standard size, please) or a small plastic container. You can wrap the box (lid separately), but wrapping is not required.
2. Boy or Girl? Determine whether your gift will be for a boy or a girl, and the child’s age category: 2-4, 5-9, or 10-14. You can download a label online or click the Follow Your Box option to get a special label to learn the destination of you shoe box gift. Tape the label to the top of your box.
3. Fill it up! Fill the box with a variety of gifts that will bring delight to a child such as toys, school supplies, and hygiene items. A list of suggested gift items is available here.
4. Donate $7. Please donate $7 or more for each shoe box you prepare to help cover shipping and other project costs. You can give online by using our Follow Your Box option, or you can write a check to Samaritan’s Purse (note “OCC” on memo line) and place it in an envelope on top of the gift items inside your box. If you or your family are preparing more than one shoe box, please make one combined donation.
5. Drop Off. Put a rubber band around your closed box then Click to find the closest drop-off location to you and drop off your box during OCC’s National Collection Week–Nov. 12-19, 2012.
**National Collection week is Nov 12-19th**
Gifts are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
You can also send shoe box gifts year-round to:
Samaritan’s Purse
801 Bamboo Road
Boone, NC 28607
This holiday season build a box with your family to teach kindness, compassion, and generosity.
BlogFrog will match the first 200 boxes that are built. Pledge your commitment below to build a box today on Facebook or Twitter!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Operation Christmas Child. The opinions and text are all mine.
