Operation Christmas Child

Dear Parents,

Your child has a unique opportunity to participate in a worldwide global service project.  It is called Operation Christmas Child.  What is so awesome about this project is that it’s kids helping kids!  I would like to invite you and your child to bring the joy of Christmas to a needy child this year by demonstrating love, hope, and joy through a gift filled shoe box.  Each year caring individuals, families, businesses, organizations, and schools fill shoe boxes with toys, school supplies, and other items and send them to collection centers.  From the collection centers, the boxes are delivered to millions of children worldwide affected by war, poverty, disease, and disaster.

This past year more than 9.4 million shoe boxes were collected in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and delivered to children in over 100 countries.  The 5.4 million shoe boxes collected in 2002, if stacked one on top of another would be more than 56 times taller than Mt. Everest.  An estimated 329,000 rolls of wrapping paper, or about 10.5 million square feet, were used to wrap shoe box gifts last year.  That’s enough to cover 219 football fields!!  Every U.S. president since Ronald Reagan has packed a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child.

Here’s how it works:

1. Our class has set a classroom goal of packing 2 gift filled shoe boxes, one for a girl and one for a boy the same age as us.
2. We carefully consider using our allowance money or money we have saved to help other kids who really need our help. (My children use 10% of their allowance money to create a shoebox for a child)
3. We bring appropriate items to school to pack in our shoe box (please see list)
4. We pack our box and send it to the collection site to be inspected and sent to a child in another country.
5. We feel AWESOME about ourselves, because we shared love, hope, and joy with a child who needed it!!

This is a totally voluntary project designed to raise the self-esteem of children.  When kids feel that they can make a difference in their world, the possibilities are endless.  What a great way to talk about and find out about people, their customs, geography,etc.  What is life like for a child in that country?  What would it be like to live in a war torn country? 

I ask you to carefully consider participating in this very worthy cause, and bring Christmas joy to children around the world!  We will be collecting the boxes and delivering them to a drop off center.  All items must be brought to school by Friday Nov. 18^th.

                                                                   Sincerely,

                                     

                                                         

Suggested Gifts

Toys:  small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, small Etch A Sketch, toys that light up or make noise (with extra batteries) Slinky, etc.

School Supplies:  pens, pencils and sharpener, crayons or markers, stamps, and ink pad sets, coloring books, chalk, writing pads or paper, solar calculators, etc.

Hygiene items:  toothbrush, toothpaste, bar soap, comb, washcloth, etc.

Other:  hard candy lollipops, mints, gum, sunglasses, flashlights with extra batteries, ball caps, socks, T-shirts, toy jewelry, hair clips, watches, small picture books, etc.

Do Not Include

Used items, toy guns, knives, or other war-related items, chocolate or perishable foods, liquids of any kind (shampoo, lotion bubbles, etc.), medicines of any kind (vitamins, cough drops, etc.), breakable items (china dolls, snow globes, etc.)