Each year as a family we participate in Operation Christmas Child through Samaritans Purse. Since 1993, more than 100 million boys and girls in over 130 countries have experienced God’s love through the power of simple shoe box gifts from Operation Christmas Child. Samaritan’s Purse works with local churches and ministry partners to deliver the gifts and share the life-changing Good News of Jesus Christ.
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box/
Right after Christmas all of the stores break out their storage containers on sale. I usually pick up four or five shoe box sized containers in anticipation of packing them throughout the year. I start with holiday items on sale like games, pencils and cups and then keep them in my mind as the seasons change and items go on sale. At the end of summer I will pick up t-shirts to add. In the fall I will pick up school supplies on sale etc. By preparing the boxes early and keeping them where I can see them they are always on my mind. With purchasing all items on sale I am able to pack more boxes than I would be able to if I waited until the last minute to purchase everything in November. Heck, the boxes pictured above even have Christmas cards in them ready to be signed for the kids. They also have small toys, washcloths, cups, pencils etc. Also by purchasing items on sale I can get better quality items to send.
The boxes are then collected in the beginning of November. I add $7.00 per box for shipping and our church collects them and takes them to the distribution center for processing. And then once Christmas passes again I start the whole a process from scratch. It's amazing how simple these boxes are to create and how fun it is to imagine the smiles on the kids faces when they receive them.
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