Do you participate in Operation Christmas Child, or OCC as it is often called? Last year one of our friends and readers posted on Facebook a thing or two about OCC boxes she was packing and it peeked our interest. Instead of asking her more information or researching the project we let it fall to the back of our minds as many of us do with new ideas; life got in the way and we didn’t think much more about it.
Then last week another friend of ours posted on Facebook about a great deal she saw on baseballs and commented that she was going to purchase them for her OCC boxes. When I read that I immediately thought back to last year and the other friend who was involved with this cause. I had a vague idea what it was about and kind of thought to myself that it would be a good thing for us to do.
I should find out more. I should start collecting things. I should read about what is needed. I should. I should. I should. And I didn’t…..
All of our lives we have believed that things happen for a reason; call it God at work, divine intervention, the universe aligning in a way that causes reactions, or call it simply co-incidence. Things happen for a reason. Once again this has proven to be true because just this week a good friend of ours who is also a business mentor reached out to us asking us to help her and others to save money on items that could be used in OCC boxes. OCC boxes – again popping up in our life radar.
So what exactly is Operation Christmas Child?
OCC is world’s largest Christmas project of its kind, ran by Samaritan’s Purse. Gift-filled shoeboxes are distributed to needy children around the world. It began in 1993 and to date more than 131 million gift boxes have been delivered to needy children in over 150 different countries. That is an astounding number! More than 500,000 volunteers worldwide, with more than 100,000 of those in the United States, are involved in collecting, shipping, and distributing shoebox gifts.
How can you participate?
Individuals, families, churches, and groups fill empty shoeboxes with gifts of toys, school supplies, hygiene items, and notes of encouragement. The OCC website has a list of suggested OCC items. Once we looked at the list our minds started spinning and we are sure yours will as well. The possibilities abound for items that could be included.
In November Samaritan’s Purse holds a National Collection Week (11/16/15 – 11/23/15). They will collect the gift-filled shoeboxes at more than 4,000 drop-off sites in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
You can also pack personalized shoebox year round by using their online process. Once the boxes are collected they are prepared for overseas shipment at nine major processing centers across the United States including Atlanta, Baltimore; Boone, N.C.; Charlotte; Dallas, Denver, Honolulu, Minneapolis and Southern California.
Samaritan’s Purse will deliver the gifts to children in more than 100 countries on six continents. You can find out the country where your gifts are delivered by creating shipping labels online and
using the donation form found at samaritanspurse.org. Click on “Pack a Shoebox” / “Follow-YourBox Label.”
How will The Clever Couple participate?
We have decided that 2015 is the year we jump in and become a part of this effort. We are going to start filling shoeboxes at home and are going to share our progress with you. We know that you like to save money and that many of you are on a tight budget so we are going to highlight deals that we think are a good match for OCC boxes. This will include store sales, coupon match-ups and DIY ideas. We’ll tag each post as OCC, so you can visit our home page and type OCC in the search box to reveal all the related posts. We want to make this easy for you to participate. We also invite you to share your own finds and good deals for OCC shoebox items on our Twitter or Facebook page. Not only will we find your tips helpful but we know others will as well.
Want to learn more?
Visit Operation Christmas Child for more information. There is also a new story posted each Monday on the Shoebox Stories page. You can also check out OCC Shoeboxes on Facebook and Twitter.
