Christmas is sneaking up on us. As you are preparing for Christmas celebrations with your family and friends, it’s worth thinking about the children around the world who aren’t going to be getting a Christmas gift this year.
Operation Christmas Child is an initiative that provides children in need with a shoebox filled with gifts for Christmas. Since 1993, more than 100 million shoeboxes have been given to kids in more than 130 countries. The goody-filled shoeboxes are donated by families, churches, schools and businesses and distributed by Samaritan’s Purse. Joining in and contributing a box is easy. We've been doing it for the last two years.
Grab a shoebox and decide if your gift is for a boy or a girl and the age of the child (2–4, 5–9 or 10–14 years old). Then fill the box with presents. Include:
- Something to love
- Something for school
- Something to wear
- Something to play with
- Something for personal hygiene
- Something special
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| Borrowed from Operation Christmas Child. |
You don’t need to spend a lot of money to make a child happy; we set a $20 limit for each box. This year, Miss 3 and I went shopping for presents together and then she, Miss 3.5 and another friend packed a shoe box each. They were absolutely delighted to pack presents for someone else. My sister-in-law had the shoe boxes and we covered them in Christmas wrapping paper before we packed the boxes.
We also downloaded colouring sheets for the girls to fill in as a little story about who has packed the box. Miss 3 had a lovely time taking our three boxes, plus three from my mother into the drop-off centre.
Make sure that you get your children involved in packing and dropping off the boxes; it’s great for them to experience the joy of giving. October is national collection month in Australia. Start packing now. Have fun packing and bringing a smile to a child's face.
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