Operation Christmas Child

For the past three Christmases, I have diligently packed 2-3 shoeboxes  to send along with Samaritan's Purse's Operation Christmas Child (OCC) shoebox campaign. I love the idea of a child in a developing country opening up a shoebox that I have packed, and enjoying all of the contents-- school supplies, toys, candy and hygiene products.

Amy, Jill and I volunteering for OCC.

This was the first year that I've managed to score a volunteering slot in the shoebox distribution and processing center. Amy, Jill and I spent an afternoon inspecting, packing and taping boxes that will be sent to children in Costa Rica and Guatemala.

Shoebox processing facility.

OCC runs a tight ship, and the volunteer sessions run like a well-oiled machine. We arrived at 12:30 and received a quick orientation. Then we were split into teams, and started inspecting shoeboxes right away. The point of inspection is to remove anything that might be considered contraband, frightening to children (images with guns or weapons), can't pass through customs (seashells, rocks, feathers) or might melt, leak or freeze during transportation (liquid glue, bubbles, lip balm, shampoo, tooth paste, etc.) OCC encourages volunteers to keep shoeboxes as close to as what the donors originally packed. That is, we only remove items that can cause problems. Otherwise, the gift boxes stay completely intact.

Shoeboxes waiting to be processed.

Last year, OCC collected nine million boxes world wide-- nearly 650,000 of those were Canadian donations. This year OCC Canada is aiming to collect 700,000 shoe boxes from generous Canadians. As of our volunteering day-- December 6, they had processed 144,462 boxes in the Calgary facility. During our two-hour volunteer shift, we helped process 5400 boxes.

This was a really great way to spend my afternoon. I will definitely do it again in the future!

Shoe boxes collection is now finished in communities, but you can drop off shoeboxes to the processing warehouse on 20 Hopewell Way, NW. Or if you don't have time to pack a shoebox yourself, you can always pack a shoebox online.