Comments on: Operation Christmas Child

By: Diana

Diana — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 17:26:29 +0000

I have never heard of this project but I’ve already printed the labels and my girls and I will go shopping at Dollar tree tonight! My girls will love this! We usually do toys for tots but this year my husband asked that we look into helping out other lesser known charities. I think I’ve found our new one :) ( lesser known to us anyway.)

Our church always does a holiday food drive for 75 needy families in our community and a mitten tree for a local homeless shelter. We always participate in those projects too. Esp. when I can get so much food for so little when I use my coupons! :)

By: Lynnette

Lynnette — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:28:44 +0000

I miss having the opportunity to do Operation Christmas Child boxes as part of a group project, but my current church isn’t involved in this great ministry. At my previous church, we used to do boxes for Operation Christmas Child simply by putting reminders in our newsletter and weekly bulletin, and asking members to create their own boxes, which the church then delivered to the appropriate drop-site. But then we decided it might be easier on everyone’s budget if we made this a year-long project, so we took the list of items recommended by Samaritan’s Purse and divided them into a 12-month schedule. Now the church website, newsletter, bulletin, and e-mail news all include reminders about each month’s item, always with a note encouraging people to take advantage of sales to buy ANY item even if it’s not THIS month’s item. We also put an attractive box or glass container in a convenient place with a sign asking for donations to help pay the shipping cost. This was a great way to include people who had no interest in shopping. Then a week or so before the drop-off deadline, members (including kids) get together at the church and form an assembly line to pack boxes. Doing it this way has meant that the church is able to put together at least twice as many boxes as had been contributed by individual families. In our area, Dollar Tree has been a great place to shop for this project. I can usually find toothbrushes in multi-packs there, sometimes as many as 8 toothbrushes for $1.

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:20:38 +0000

WOW I didn’t know you were a MOPS mom too!! :D what fun.

we were told that the plastic shoe boxes are often used by the families to collect water, so that’s what our church and MOPS group always use.

such an amazing program!!

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:54:33 +0000

We didn’t know about Operation Christmas Child until our church introduced us to it last year. It was an amazing experience for my then 6 & 9 year old to pick out items & pack the boxes. Even though I don’t think our church is doing it this year, I feel like this is a tradition our family will continue. So nice for kids to shift their focus away from themselves during the holidays & have an opportunity to share this with others.

By: Deb

Deb — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:55:46 +0000

Our family has been packing Operation Christmas Child boxes for a number of years. The last couple of years, we’ve done 10 boxes–5 for girls and 5 for boys. I take my son (now 6) to the dollar store to let him help pick out small toys, hygiene items, and school supplies. Then we form an assembly line on the living room floor. We include notes and photos in each box. Last year we even got a letter back from a child in Africa who received one of our boxes!
One way we like to keep the spirit of giving going throughout the year is by sponsoring children through Compassion International. My son requested that we sponsor a little boy in Ghana who is the same age. They exchange letters and are learning about one another’s cultures. My son is learning to appreciate his blessings a bit more as well as the chance to share them with a little boy on the other side of the planet.

By: Erin

Erin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:33:38 +0000

Love Operation Christmas Child! We’ve been doing this for years. I’m really excited this year, if you pay your $7 shipping donation online you can sign up to be able to TRACK your package and see what country it ends up in! How fun is that!

By: Kandi

Kandi — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:38:55 +0000

We usually do a “family box” for Operation Christmas Child, but our big thing is Toys For Tots. I take each of the kids on their own to the store and give them $15 to spend on whatever they want. Then we put the stuff into the TFT bins. I think this helps make sure that the kids who are doing without are getting things they might like. We also usually grab some of those scarf and mitten ornaments from a retail store and buy for those. With that we know the impact is felt directly in our community.

By: Christie

Christie — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:37:23 +0000

Other tips:
–use a plastic shoebox with a lid (you can usually find these at the dollar store) apparently the families really appreciate this reusable box!
–These tips can help you plan ahead for next year.
I start shopping for the next year the day I fill a box. I shop after Christmas sales, buying things at 50, 75, even 90% off. I also buy lots of things at back to school sales. Markers, pencils with a sharpener, scissors, small pads of paper. I buy t shirts at Kohl’s on clearance–wait until they get to 80 or 90% off. I figure that if the child I’m giving the box to doesn’t fit in the shirt, they would know someone who would. I also try to include a toothbrush and toothpaste (free from CVS).