Operation Christmas Child

Over this past weekend, I was in the stores taking advantage of the tax free weekend we had for back to school shopping.  Last year I used the great sales on back to school supplies to stock up for the shoe boxes we stuff for Operation Christmas Child which is run by the Samaritan's Purse organization.

If you've never heard of this before, it is a great organization that collects shoe boxes stuffed with goodies for needy children in other countries.  For many children, this is the only gift they will receive.  I found it astounding that they were able to get shoe boxes to 8 million children last year.  Can you imagine? 

On Sunday, I picked up crayons and glue at Kmart.  They are on sale for 25 cents this week.  They do limit you to four.  So if you are out shopping for back to school supplies, grab an extra pack (or couple) of crayons and supplies and start planning ahead to participate in this great cause. If you are not affiliated with a church, don't let that stop you.  You can go to the Samaritan's Purse website and they can tell you where they have a local collection center.  And if you feel led even further, they can use volunteers at the collection centers. 

I personally like to fill boxes for little boys since I have two boys. I had to be bias, but I feel like it is way easier to find girly things to put in boxes, so that is why I put together boxes for boys.  Small trucks, dinosaurs, and coloring books, etc.  These all make great items to send. By the way, they ask that you don't send liquid items (so bubbles are out) and don't send things that could melt like chocolate.

I'm sure as we get closer to the holidays I'll be blogging about this again and sharing what I'm collecting for our boxes. And don't stress if you don't have shoe boxes.  Last year I saw where you could pick some up for free at Family Christian Bookstore. 

I wanted to share some pictures with you of children around the world who have received shoe boxes.  I thought this first picture was so cool because it shoes folks in Africa taking shoe boxes to kids and as you can see, they are riding elephants!  What a cool way to travel.  Can you imagine if your shoe box was delivered by elephant?  Amazing!

 The faces of these sweet girls in Iraq just touched my heart when I saw this picture. 

 And this looks like a happy group of kids in Peru.

 And these kids are hanging out in Zimbabwe with all of their shoe boxes.

I'll be blogging about this again as we get closer to the holidays and give you more ideas for packing shoe boxes.  Wouldn't it be fun to organize a group you belong to (co-workers, Bunco, MOPS, etc) and set a challenge to see who can stuff the most shoe boxes? Start now and by the time November gets here, you all will be ready to go.  November is when shoe boxes get turned into local distribution areas so they can get to the kids by Christmas.

So, have you ever put together a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child?  What did you pack in your box(es)?

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