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You are here: Home » Blog Posts » Family Fun » Family Activities » Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child

By Jenn (aka Mama Jenn) • Last Updated: January 20, 2020
Note: This page may contain affiliate and/or advertiser links. Please review my disclosure policy.
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We have been participating in Operation Christmas Child for a number of years now and it is something that we look forward to each year! It has been a great way for us (as a family) to be a blessing to others! Each year, without fail, we are reminded of what a blessing it is to be able to bless others in need!

Operation Christmas Child

This year I will be blogging through the process of packing our OCC boxes and I welcome you to join in and pack some shoe boxes yourself! So, for starters, if you are not familiar with Operation Christmas Child (aka OCC) here is some basic info:

 

Operation Christmas Child

What is Operation Christmas Child? OCC is a project designed to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to needy children around the world by providing them with shoe box gifts.

What is the shoe box for? Empty shoe boxes are filled with toys and gifts for needy children around the world!

What do I put in the shoe box? Check out the list of gift ideas to see what you would like to put in your shoe box gift.

 

Operation Christmas Child

Who started OCC? Operation Christmas Child is part of Samaritan’s Purse, which is an organization that is bringing relief and providing aid to those in need around the world while spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ! Check out what Samaritan’s Purse does in the stunning photo collection!

Who can participate in OCC? Anyone willing to fill a shoe box to bless a child in need can participate!

Who will receive the OCC shoe box gifts? Needy children around the world will receive the shoe box gifts!

 

Operation Christmas Child

How can I participate? Everything you need to know about participating in Operation Christmas Child and packing your shoe box gift can be found here!

How are the shoe box gifts distributed? Check out the Journey of a Shoe Box to find out the exact process involved in distributing the shoe box gifts.

 

Operation Christmas Child

When is OCC? You can begin preparing your shoe box gifts at any time of the year, but the National Collection Week is shown below.

When do I drop off my shoe box gifts? Drop off your shoe box gifts during the National Collection Week. The 2012 National OCC Collection Week is November 9-12.

Operation Christmas Child

 

Operation Christmas Child

Where do I drop of my box? Use the Drop off Locator form to determine locations where you can drop off your shoe box gift

Where will my box go? You can use the “Follow Your Box Donation” option to determine the destination of your shoe box gift!

 

Operation Christmas Child

Why was OCC started? The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Why do I need to include $7 with each shoebox? The $7 donation helps cover OCC project expenses like the cost of shipping your shoebox to a needy child! You can give online or by check.

Why do I have to use a shoe box? You don’t! You can use a similarly sized plastic storage container with a removable lid or other similarly sized box.

Why should I participate and fill a shoebox? I highly recommend that you to participate in Operation Christmas Child and I could give you all kinds of reasons why you should participate. But, there is a particular OCC video that brings me to tears every single time I watch it. I urge you to watch it and see the impact of a shoe box gift!

 

Samaritan's PurseDisclosure: As a member of the iHomeschool Network’s Samaritan’s Purse Blogger Team, I write about the ministry on a volunteer basis. All posts are my own thoughts and do not necessarily reflect the views of Samaritan’s Purse. I am not on employee, agent, or contractor of Samaritan’s Purse.

Attention Bloggers: Please join in and help spread the word about this amazing organization by blogging about your Operation Christmas Child shoe box gifts and linking up your post(s) below!

OperationChristmasChildLinkupBanner

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Category: Family Activities
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Comments

  1. Mama Jenn

    October 24, 2012 at 4:40 pm

    Thanks Jamie!

    Reply
  2. Jamie Worley

    October 23, 2012 at 6:21 pm

    This is a great FAQ kind of post! Love it! Thanks for posting such detail; I know it’ll be a big help to anyone new to OCC!

    Reply
  3. Mama Jenn

    October 22, 2012 at 4:17 am

    Hi Melissa! No, you do not have to identify yourself when doing OCC. However, you do need to include a $7 check in the box or pay the $7 online, which will enable you to track what country your shoebox goes to: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/followyourbox/ However, if you want it to be completely anonymous, I suppose you could include a cashier’s check or money order rather than a personal check. Hope that helps!

    Reply
  4. Melissa

    October 19, 2012 at 3:05 am

    I babysit my 2 1/2 year old granddaughter and I think this would be a wonderful Christmas project for her. I have a question, however — when we put the box together do we need to identify ourselves in anyway or can it be completely anonymous? Thanks for sharing this — it is a lovely, meaningful, important way to teach our children the importance of giving.

    Reply
  5. Mama Jenn

    October 16, 2012 at 11:54 pm

    Awh, so sweet what your daughter said! It brings tears to my eyes e.v.e.r.y single time!!!

    Reply
  6. Two Cowgirls

    October 16, 2012 at 11:52 pm

    Wow, that is a really powerful video! It brought tears to my eyes. We’ve been participating in OCC for 3 years. After watching that video, my 8 year old really “gets it” now. She said “Can we put shoes in our boxes?! Can we do more than two?!”

    Reply
  7. Mama Jenn

    October 14, 2012 at 3:58 am

    That is great that the schools got involved in such a worthy cause!!!

    Reply
  8. Mama Jenn

    October 14, 2012 at 3:52 am

    Hi Nikki! I just tried downloading them and had not problem. Be sure to make sure that you are using the most recent version of Adobe Reader. Usually updating that does the trick!

    Reply
  9. Mama Jenn

    October 14, 2012 at 3:48 am

    You will be so thankful you did! It is a way to bless others, but I always find that I feel so blessed to be able to BE a blessing to others!

    Reply
  10. learningtitus2

    October 13, 2012 at 2:00 pm

    Oh – thanks for the reminder. We’ve saved a couple of shoeboxes this year to try and make sure we participate! 🙂

    Reply
  11. Nikki

    October 10, 2012 at 4:45 pm

    Sorry to comment about an unrelated post, but I’ve been trying to download your Countdown to Advent cards (that can go along with the Truth in the Tinsel activities, and for some reason the numbers are not showing up on my download…I would just write them in myself, but some of the circles have this big black box on them:( Was wondering if anyone else mentioned this happening and was hoping to find a solution to the problem…I’d REALLY love to use these this year!!! Thanks so much!

    Reply
  12. Kimberley T

    October 9, 2012 at 5:31 pm

    Both the primary and high schools I went to used to do this every year, they tried each year to get more shoe boxes than the year before. It’s such a great way for people to send things over to kids that would otherwise get nothing for Christmas

    Reply

Operation Christmas Child

By Jenn (aka Mama Jenn) • Last Updated: January 20, 2020
Note: This page may contain affiliate and/or advertiser links. Please review my disclosure policy.

image

This year, I was really excited about doing the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes because the last time we did them, the majority of my kids were too young to really understand what it was all about. However, this year was different.

I explained to them that there are kids around the world who are not as fortunate as us. We talked about how Christmas is about giving and not getting. I showed them a few videos from the Operation Christmas Child website and I could tell that the Lord was beginning to tug a little on their hearts.

So, the kids took money from their piggy banks and we headed to the store to shop for the children that would receive our Christmas boxes. It really touched my heart to see my kids (especially my daughter) excited about giving to other kids less fortunate than them.

Once we got our boxes all packed, I saw on one of the videos that you could print an “All About Me” page to include in your box. I searched and searched all over the site and I eventually found them! Here is a thumbnail of what they look like.

imageimage

To print your own copies of the “All About Me” page to include in your Operation Christmas boxes, first go to Samaritan’s Purse Graphic Resource Page. Scroll down a bit and click on the “CLIPART” button. Begin to scroll through until you find the “All About Me” page. (If you can’t scroll along, you may need to click the “CLIPART” button at the top of the page.)

So, our boxes are packed and ready. Now, we pray for the children who will receive our boxes! Don’t forget that the National Collection week begins next week, November 15th-22nd!

FYI, you can even make this into a fun geography lesson by tracking your boxes! My kids are excited about this part too! (So am I!!!) It will be cool to track the journey of our shoe boxes! Plus, who knows…perhaps the children receiving our boxes will write us back!! How cool would that be?!?!?!

Category: Family Activities, Geography Activities
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Comments

  1. Branch Of Wisdom

    November 22, 2010 at 5:22 am

    Thank you! I found them now…whew! I really thought I had my mind showing me just how exhausted I am.

    Reply
  2. Mama Jenn

    November 21, 2010 at 11:31 pm

    It appears that they have changed the site! But, I was still able to get to the “All About Me” pages. Go to the same Graphic Resource list that is in my blog post. Scroll down and click where it says Graphic Files. You will have to download all the files and then open the one that says Coloring Pages. Hope that helps!

    Reply
  3. Branch Of Wisdom

    November 21, 2010 at 10:43 pm

    I’ve been trying and trying to locate those “All About Me” pages….but I cannot for anything find them. I’ve read and re-read your directions, and I must be blind 🙁 If you can offer any additional help, I’d be grateful.

    Reply
  4. Corrie

    November 20, 2010 at 8:16 pm

    Thanks for your help. With your link, we are so excited to track our boxes.

    Reply
  5. Davene

    November 13, 2010 at 8:38 pm

    What a great post! We *always* do OCC, but somehow this year, I’m behind schedule and we haven’t done anything yet. Time to push it higher on my priority list! Thanks for the reminder!

    Have a great weekend! 🙂

    Reply
  6. Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeet

    November 13, 2010 at 4:21 pm

    I love doing OCC! We have done it for a number of years already, always doing a box to match the age and gender of the kids. This year we put three together – 1 girl, 2 boys. FYI, they always run out of boy boxes, especially for the oldest boys. This comes from our pastor who went to Mexico to help distribute boxes one year.

    Reply

Operation Christmas Child

By Jenn (aka Mama Jenn) • Last Updated: January 20, 2020
Note: This page may contain affiliate and/or advertiser links. Please review my disclosure policy.
Yesterday at MOPS, we spent our time filling boxes for Operation Christmas Child. What is Operation Christmas Child? Here is a short description from the website. You can also click on the title above to be taken to the official website.

Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. Since 1993, more than 61 million shoe boxes have been packed, shipped, and delivered across the globe. People of all ages can be involved in this simple, hands-on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ.

It is amazing that so many of the things that we take for granted can bring joy to the face of a needy child. It was a very humbling experience to watch a video of a woman recount the day, as a young girl, that she received her box. You see, her shoes had holes in them; they were too small; the sole was taped up, etc. Inside her box was a brand new pair of shoes. I am tearing up as I think about it. She asked who gave her the box with the shoes and she was told that someone gave them to her because they wanted her to know that God cares about her. The person began to share the great love of Christ and she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior that very day. As an adult, she now fills boxes for the kids just like her! It was such a moving story! So, if you are interested in blessing a child by filling up a shoe box with gifts, please visit the site for all the details. The National Collection Week is November 17-24.

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