Operation Christmas Child

Last year during the Christmas season we started a family tradition of putting together shoe boxes filled with gifts for the kids of Operation Christmas Child. It is such an amazing organization and has been around since the 1970's. The "mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ." You just create your box and then enter your zip code on the website to find drop off stations near you.

It was such a fun way to get the kids involved in serving others in a tangible way. Both Adeline and Carter picked the age and gender of the child they wanted to make a shoebox for. We then took a family shopping trip to Fred Meyer to pick out all the treasures their selected children might enjoy. By paying for and printing out the shipping labels online we were able to track our packages and find out they were delivered to children in the Philippines. We then read up about the needs of the children in the Philippines and located the country on our world map. The whole service project has been a great learning opportunity for the kids in terms of researching the children we helped and doing geography lessons on our world map that decorates our playroom wall.

We are starting to plan for this Christmas season as the Collection Week is November 15-22. It is early so they can get all the shoe boxes organized and delivered in time for Christmas. I urge all of my readers (the 2 still following) to check out this organization for a special way to get the kids involved in giving. If you would like to donate but don't have time to put together a shoebox you can donate at Samaritan's Purse or give your donations to us by October 31st and we will put together extra shoe boxes in your honor. I am sure the kids would love to shop more!