Operation Christmas Child

This week is National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child (OCC). If you are not familiar with this project, OCC delivers shoeboxes full of Christmas gifts to needy children around the world. Volunteers are asked to fill a shoebox (or a shoebox size plastic tub) with small items such as crayons, balls, toothbrushes, soap, hard candies, small books – you get the idea. The shoeboxes are collected at drop off points around the country and then shipped to their recipients. The first few years that I heard of this program I thought, "What can fit in a shoebox?" It seemed like such a paltry giving project. Last year my daughter's preschool promoted the program, so we participated for the first time. I was amazed at what can fit in a shoe box. I actually had to go back to the store to get some more items to fill up the box. Being a visual and concrete giving project, our 4 year old really seemed to understand the value of what we were doing. Unlike giving money to a charity, this was her shoebox , filled with things she likes, going to another little girl out there in the world.

Today we filled this year's shoebox. Again, I was amazed at what fit in there.

Here is a list of what we packed:

• One pair of pj's
  
• One set of 24 crayons
  
• Two small notebooks
  
• One paperback picture book
  
• 8 small cans of play dough
  
• A rubber bouncy ball
  
• Two hand held party favor type games
  
• 6 small stuffed animals
  
• 2 bars of soap
  
• A yo yo
  
• Assorted lollipops and hard candy
  

Isn't that amazing! While we were packing the box my daughter and I had a great conversation about what size box we would need to fit all her Christmas (or birthday) gift into. We talked about how much we have compared to other families. We also talked about how happy the little girl will feel when she gets her box. It was a great.

If you would like to participate in Operation Christmas Child go to their website and find a drop off location near you. Here is the site – www.samaritanspurse.org. There are complete instructions on how to pack your shoebox.