Sometimes a small, seemingly insignificant item can make all the difference in a person’s life.
That is what Herb and Derra Mantey, the local organizers of Samaritans Purse’s Operation Christmas Child campaign say about what Canada’s effort to deliver shoeboxes filled with Christmas gifts for needy children in desperate situations around the world does for their recipients.
“Sometimes it can be as simple as a bar of soap,” Herb said, recounting a story from a young orphan boy, Evgeniy from the Ukraine.
Evgeniy was abandoned as a baby at an orphanage, a facility that lacked many of the basics, such as baths or showers. Instead he, along with the 120 other orphans would be bussed to a nearby city on a monthly basis, to a public bathhouse where as many as 30 children would have to share one bar of soap.
“So you can imagine how he felt when he received a scented bar. He couldn’t believe that someone that he didn’t even know loved him so much that they included that in the box,” he said, adding that simple gift gave him hope that there was good in the world.
Eventually, the boy would be adopted and move to the United States where he became a professional in the pharmaceutical industry.
“Now he packs his own Operation Christmas Child shoebox so another child will understand that there is hope and people out there that love them,” Derra said, adding every year Evgeniy includes a bar of scented soap.
Depending on the year, the boxes filled by Canadians usually go to children in South American countries. This year, Canadian boxes will go to Haiti, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Chile, Uruguay, Senegal, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
As for what to put into a shoebox, it largely depends on the individual creating the box, as well as the age of the recipient.
People can select whether their shoebox is going to a boy or girl, as well as the age of the child, from two to 14 years old.
“Basic hygiene items like toothbrushes, bar soap with container and washcloths are also very popular,” she said, adding so are clothing items such as T-shirts and socks. “Basically anything that isn’t a liquid, or breakable, or something that can melt, freeze or leak is allowed,” Derra said, adding school supplies are also well received.
Herb added while the children appreciate and can use practical items, he always suggests people include items that are fun.
“I know someone who sent a deflated soccer ball along with a small pump,” he said, adding for both practical and fun items people are only limited by their imaginations. “I also heard of one person who included a set of tools, wrenches and the like, thechild who received it used it to start his own bicycle repair business.
However, there are a few items that are not allowed, such as food items, including candy, due to health and safety reasons.”
“The other thing we don’t allow is items that can scare or harm a child,” Derra said. “A lot of these children come from war torn areas and have seen and experienced violence, so no war-related toys are allowed.”
Due to the number of people displaced because of the military incursion into the country by Russia, for the third-straight year, Samaritans Purse is asking Canadians to contribute 20,000 extra boxes containing cold weather items, which would go directly to Ukraine.
“Who knows more about coping with winter weather than Canadians,” Herb said.
To help cover the cost of the project, a minimum $7 donation should be included with each shoebox. In past years, Operation Christmas Child were able to accept blankets, quilts and other winter apparel too large to fit into a shoebox, however a change in international customs regulations have changed that.
“I just found out this morning from our provincial office that we no longer be able to ship blankets, basically we are limited to what can be packed into a shoebox,” Herb said, adding he will make sure any blankets and quilts they receive find a good home.
For those who don’t want to pack a box, but still want to donate they can have someone else do it for them by going online at www.packabox.ca.
Along with the shoeboxes the Manteys said a small army of volunteers from the Alliance Church ever is needed to get Barrhead’s donation ready for shipping, a task taken on by the church’s youth groups.
Before the donations are shipped, each shoebox must be opened and examined, before being packed into larger shipping boxes. The shipping boxes are then stacked onto wooden pallets and shrink wrapped before they are shipped to Edmonton and Calgary.
Empty shoeboxes can be picked up at the Barrhead Alliance Church, Barb’s Sewing, or Your Dollar Store With More. The boxes can also be dropped off at the same locations.
Operation Christmas Child collection week is Nov. 14 to 19.
