Are you familiar with Operation Christmas Child, sponsored by Samaritan's Purse?
This week, November 12 - 18, shoe boxes filled with toys, personal supplies, small games, any fun things kids would enjoy, are collected at churches, then distributed by Samaritan's Purse to children all over the world. Children, who would have very little, are delighted to receive these simple gifts.
If you go to www.samaritanspurse.org, you can put in your zip code to find the church near you that is collecting the boxes. There is a five and a half minute video to watch that shows the delight on the faces of children as they open their boxes. The categories are boy or girl, ages 2-4, 5-9, or 10-14. There is also a list of suggested items for each age group.
A seven dollar donation per box covers the world-wide shipping and handling costs. If you pay the donation on-line, you can print out a label with a bar code to be able to track where your shoe box is delivered. Won't that be fun to know just where the box you filled with things to bring a smile to a child actually ends up?
Our daughter was here over the weekend, visiting. She wanted to put together some boxes, too, so we went to the store, had fun picking out items for different ages of boys and girls, then packed them up together. We played Christmas music and wondered where these boxes would end up, thinking about the children they would reach.
We delivered them to a nearby church this morning, and soon, they will wing their way to little hands, somewhere in the world.
What a fun way to spend the weekend with a daughter :) I had done this years ago with some co-workers. Thanks for the reminder and the website. And your boxes look very fun and festive!
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