Give Back this Holiday Season with Operation Christmas Child
I recently discovered a fantastic new way to help my children give back while cultivating a sense of empathy and thoughtfulness for those in need this holiday season - it's called Operation Christmas Child, which is hosted by Samaritan's Purse. What this entails is the building of gift boxes for children around the world who otherwise would not see a holiday gift.
What's fun about this process is you can shop with your children for a child in an age range that you choose (2-4, 5-7, 8-10) and fill up a shoebox with items that they might like. You can choose a boy or girl and once your box is complete, you can follow your box to it's destination online.
I don't know about you, but I love the idea of this project. It's so personal and thoughtful and if you head to the website, you can see videos of children recieving their boxes and their faces and reactions are priceless. They are no doubt grateful and so excited for their box of goodies.
This year, we created three boxes for three girls and it's been a great expereince for all of us to give back to others who are less fortunate than we are - it's my hope that Operation Christmas Child will help my kids understand that what they have isn't a given and that there are children who have so much less than they do.
If you're interested in creating your own box and want it to make it in time for the holiday - it's not too late. Head to the website and get a drop off location near you to participate. This is the national collection week - so they'll be taking shoe boxes filled with goodies for kids until the 19th.
How do you attempt to give back during the holiday season?
Image via iStock [Steve Debenport]
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on Nov. 15, 2012 at 3:00 PM