My husband and I look forward to assembling our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes each year. We pull out the container of items we've picked up throughout the year and sort them into piles on the table. After all the months we really don't remember everything we have. I know there will be a good supply of school items - I got those during the back-to-school sales. Can't beat .15c for a notebook or .25c for a ruler.
After we do an inventory of what we have, we head out for the evening. First stop is to the Dollar Tree and then to Wal-Mart. After our shopping is done we go some place nice for supper. When we get back home, it's the start of the best part ... putting together our shoeboxes! We use plastic containers, as the container is the first gift. Families can use them as a safe, bug-free place to store food or protect precious belongings. We line the box with a towel. Since you can see thru the plastic, this fabric is our "wrapping paper" and is the second gift. Then it's time to STUFF the box. There are school supplies: notebooks, pencils, erasers, rulers, etc. This year while on vacation in Minnesota, I found backpacks on clearance for $1 each. Those took some tight rolling to compress them down! We always include hygiene items: toothbrushes, combs, soap, etc. and items to eat with: a plastic bowl and cup, and a spoon. Of course these are for children, so there must be toys! Cars, balls, puzzles, a musical instrument, and a soft "lovie." This year we were able to put in each box two shirts and two pair of socks that were given to us by people who know about our box packing. Sounds like a lot to fit in a large shoebox, doesn't it? I am a master packer!
Oh ... I forgot about the final gift, and according to Samaritan's Purse, the most important gift. We enclose a Christmas card in which we write a note to the child and enclose a photo of us. We've been blessed to receive three letters over the years from children in Jamaica, Philippians, and India, who have gotten one of our boxes. One year in the annual report newsletter, a photo showed one of our boxes being opened by a boy in Sudan. Wow!
Every year since we were told by the Operation Christmas Child regional representative that the boxes they run out of first are the ones for boys 10-14 years old, we have done six boxes for that age range. But this year we've added one more box. A box for a little girl in the youngest age range of 2-4 years old. This is in honor of our new niece Hanna. We will keep doing this box. We are looking forward to next year scooping up this little sweetie and taking her shopping to fill that shoebox. As the years pass we will do shoeboxes that correspond to Hanna's age. We're looking forward to it.
Teri
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