By Lydia Browne
Imagine the joy on the face of a child who has never before received a gift as she opens a box full of toys for the first time.
It all started in 1993 with 28,000 shoe boxes that were sent to children in the Balkans. Today, over 209 million children in over 170 countries have received one of these shoe boxes.
Operation Christmas Child, a tradition of the humanitarian Samaritan’s Purse Organization, sends shoe boxes to children around the world full of toys, school supplies, and personal care items. According to the Samaritan’s Purse website, this is the first gift that many of these children have ever received in their lives.
I have fond memories of putting together shoe boxes each year with my grandmother. It always felt special to put together my own box, knowing that it would go to some other little girl or boy on the other side of the world that needed it more than me.
The first thing to do is to put a label on your shoe box. These labels are found on the Samaritan’s Purse website. These labels are used to indicate whether you want your box to go to a boy or girl, and to what age. Boxes are sent to three age categories: ages 2 to 4, 5 to 9, and 10 to 14.
Then comes the time to fill the shoe box. Each shoe box should include what the organization refers to as a “‘wow’ item such as a soccer ball with pump or stuffed animal. . .” Then fill the shoe box with other toys, hygiene items, and supplies for school. Finally, the best and most important thing in the shoe box for many children is often a personal letter and picture from the person who packed their shoe box.
A $10 donation is necessary for each shoe box to cover the cost of shipping and other costs to get your shoe box to its recipient. One of the easier ways to accomplish this is through the Labels page online, where you can also track the journey and destination of your box.
The final step of the process is to drop off your shoe box at a local drop-off location between November 13-20. These locations—as well as the steps, labels, and information for how to put together a shoe box—can be found on the Samaritan’s Purse website at https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/.
You also have the option to build your shoe box online on the website, where you can state what you would like to be in the shoe box and someone will put it together for you.
Many of us have so much, and that is often especially prevalent during holidays such as Christmas when we are able to give lots of gifts to our family and friends. As Operation Christmas Child turns 30 this year, take this opportunity to have a positive impact on children and young teens who do not have the same advantages across the globe.
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