Giving Back at Christmas

Hello fellow readers,

I hope everyone is having an amazing weekend. I know we're definitely enjoying the abnormal warm temperatures we've been having lately, although everyone's hoping and praying that we will still see snow for Christmas, as it just doesn't seem the same without it.

Speaking of Christmas, it's crazy to think that it's less than three weeks away. I've been super busy with shopping, wrapping, decorating and baking, but amongst all the crazy things I love about Christmas, one of my favorite Christmas traditions is taking part in Operation Christmas Child.

Growing up, we may not have been what anyone would ever call wealthy, but my parents always instilled in us the importance of giving back. And one of their favorite ways to do this was with having each of us take part in Operation Christmas Child. To anyone unfamiliar with the program, it's a way to provide a child in another country with a Christmas present, that they would otherwise not receive. Anyone wishing to participate is asked to fill a shoebox with a number of small approved items from the brochure, and then they are collected by various volunteer organizations, and Samaritans Purse takes care of repacking them to make sure they follow international guidelines, and delivering them to children in many different countries.

Here is the website for anyone wanting to learn more: http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/operation-christmas-child.aspx

While collection week is over for this year, it's always nice to start planning ahead for next year :)

This has since become a tradition for my hubby and I every year. We make a date night out of it, and enjoy taking the evening together to go shopping for all the goodies we include in the boxes. This year we decided to do one box for a boy, and one box for a girl, both for the 5-9 age category, and it was awesome to know that these little gifts that so many of us would take for granted, mean so much to the children that will be receiving them. My parents also introduced my five year old nephew to the program this year, and he had a ton of fun getting to choose things to include in his boxes. One thing I absolutely love about this program is that it may monetarily it doesn't cost a lot, but it makes a huge difference, and I know we will be continuing this tradition every year, and I look forward to one day including our children in the experience.

Here's what we packed in our boxes:

For the girl's box, we included a few hygiene items like a toothbrush, hairbrush and mirror, a washcloth, Kleenex and a bar of soap. As well as a few pairs of socks.

 

We also included crayons, pencils, and a frozen pencil case with accessories for school supplies.

 

We included a set of frozen hair ties and clips. And for some fun things, we included a Christmas tote that can be colored, some 3d butterfly stickers and a my little pony.

 

This is what it looked like all packed in the box.

 

For the boys box, we chose to send fairly similar items, but chose a minions pencil case instead of the frozen, we included a cars coloring book instead of the stickers, and we chose a hot wheels car as the toy.

I'm so glad that we were once again able to take part in Operation Christmas Child, and I look forward to doing so again next Christmas.


Thanks for reading everyone, and I will be back again with a new post soon :)


This is not a sponsored post. All my opinions are my own. I am in no way affiliated with Samaritans Purse, or the Operation Christmas Child Program.