Operation Christmas Child

IT’S TIME TO PACK THE BOXES!!!

The Centers for Hearing Care staff invites YOU to join them in packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child.

Every year shoe boxes packed to the brim are delivered to the poorest children in the most desperate circumstances all over the world.

You pick if the box will be for a boy or a girl and you can choose the age 2-4, 5-9 or 10-14. Then fill your box with three kinds of items; school supplies, personal hygiene of course toys!! You can pick up labels and colorful empty shoeboxes at any of our seven locations or you can simply wrap a shoe box at home. The label lets them know if it is for a boy or girl and what age, and it has a detachable envelope to place your shipping fee in.

Distribution in Thailand

Simple Rules:

• No candy or toothpaste
• No war toys of any kind (some of these children see real war in their young lives)
• No flammables
• No liquids

(Think of hundreds of boxes packed into crates and shipped around the world, something that leaks could ruin many.)

Everything MUST fit into a shoebox!

Distribution in Mexico

It is so much fun filling these shoe boxes! We have found the biggest problem is stopping before the box is stuffed to the exploding point!!

• Remember: If you send a flash light or anything that needs batteries, be sure to send batteries, unsharpened pencils need a pencil sharpener, etc.

You can track your individual box so you know what country your child lives in and when your box arrives. Last year our boxes went to the Sudan and the year before they went to Mongolia and the year before that to Madagascar. If you have children or grandchildren, they are the best helpers with packing and they will love looking on the map to see just where it is that their child lives. We encourage you to include a personal note and pictures in your box. Also, if you add a stamped self-addressed envelope you may get a letter back from your child. If children are helping you pack, we have coloring pages at our offices for them to color and include in their box.

Each box cost nine dollars to ship. You can place the money in the envelope you get from us or if you want to track your box to see where it goes, pay your shipping on-line at samaritanspurse.org/occ. That will generate a label with a tracking code to put on your box. They will send you an email when your box arrives! Getting those emails is as much fun as packing the boxes!! Do not seal your box, you can hold it closed with rubber bands. We have found we need those rubber bands to hold it closed!!

Distribution in the Philippines

Boxes are available now at all seven offices. They must be returned to the offices by Nov. 9th. We will deliver then to the area collection site. From there they will go to a state side distribution center and from there around the world. We can make a difference, one box, one child at a time!

Please join us in brightening the life of a child. There are so many children in peril and dire situations in this world. Harvey, Irma and Marie as well as earthquakes and war remind us of this daily. These shoeboxes show a child that they are not forgotten or alone. Someone far away knows them and sent them this gift of love. If you want to bless a child and can’t get out to shop you can also fill and ship a box on-line at samaritanspurse.org/occ.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!