Every year during the holiday season, we look for several ways to give back to those less fortunate. Sure, we spend our fair share of time making Christmas lists and decking the halls, but I also want to show my kids how to give — to each other, to friends and family members, and also to people in need.
We often give to food banks and charities collecting necessities during the hoildays, and I definitely want to continue to do that. But when I heard about Operation Christmas Child, I was excited because we get a chance to provide a shoebox full of Christmas gifts to a child in another part of the world who may not have ever had a gift in her life.
And not only that, along with every shoebox full of gifts, they receive the booklet called “The Greatest Gift of All”, which explains the story of Christ and salvation through Him.
Last night I showed my kids this video of Ralph’s Story – a nine year old boy who picks through trash and sewage to find items for his family to sell to make money to survive. They were duly horrified by the living conditions and also touched to see the happiness on the kids’ faces when they received their boxes and read the story of Jesus.
There are many more stories like this on on Samaritan’s Purse’s site. Through Operation Christmas Child, we can truly touch the lives of people living in dreadful conditions.
I explained to our kids that we can make a difference in the life of a child and share God’s love by sending a shoebox through Operation Christmas Child this week.
There are a couple of ways to do this. You can go to the store and buy a box and items to fill it and then take it to a drop off location near you. Or you can Build A Box online.
Since none of the drop off locations were very convenient to us, we opted for the online route. We were able to pick a boy or girl. (We have 2 girls and one boy in our family, so you can probably guess how that vote went. We picked a girl!)
Then we picked an age group. (We let my son choose this one, so he picked 10-14.)
Then we started selecting gifts. There are pictures of the available items, and you can drag the ones you want to give into the box. Here’s what we picked.
They also include a bunch of essential items like soap, wash cloth, pens, etc.
Finally, you have the option to personalize your box with a picture and a note.
Whether you pack your own box or select the online Build A Box, they request that you donate $7 for shipping. If you choose to donate that online, you can follow your box and see where it ends up. I love that.
I think it is so important to teach our kids to give, especially at this time of year when they seem to be so focused on making their list and checking it twice. I love how Operation Christmas Child makes it easy to give to a child in need and show our children how people live in other parts of the world.
This holiday season, consider building a box with your family to teach kindness, compassion, and generosity.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Operation Christmas Child. The opinions and text are all mine.
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