Breaching the subject of Operation Christmas Child

[BeanBag7]

Over the last few years it has become clear to me and many others that Operation Christmas Child is not as "good" and charitable as they appear to be. Many schools and youth groups still put together shoe boxes for them.

I want to let others know about this when they ask about which shoebox charity to support, or post pictures of their shoe boxes ready to go. But I dont want to look like a dick about it and be preachy.

Should I just leave it and let it continue, or am I right to make people aware of the issues? If so how would you go about it?

@FamilyOfAliens
I'm only talking about personal experiences here. Which are all overwhelmingly positive even as a non Christian. There was no evangelism. No literature.

I just sent a factual letter to dd's school when she was infants and I became aware of this - that's over 10 years ago now. They kept it going that year as they'd already launched it but stopped it the year after and instead supported a local shoebox appeal instead.
That was a church school too.

There are SO many projects out there which you can get the kids involved in which are not OCC. I have real issues with their set up too, I don't believe in their core aim of converting the "heathens" to their brand of christianity. All the people saying "well I'll be more careful about what I put in the boxes" - absolutely not the point. The boxes are the problem themselves. Also hugely inefficient.

There's a new UNICEF initiative which is a similar idea. market.unicef.org.uk/paddington-bear-parcels/ Pick presents from a pre-set list and they'll do the rest. It's expensive though.

The Rotary Club does something almost identical to OCC but with no strings and no hidden agenda. www.rotaryshoebox.org/

Link to Hope do similar, they are a Christian charity but without the hardcore evangelising. linktohope.co.uk/shoebox-appeal-2019

However, every major charity wants your money at Christmas. Just think about what's important to you. If you're concerned about poor children in the developing world give money to Water Aid, Save the Children, The Red Cross, Oxfam or any of the hundreds of charities working in the sector. I'm sure families would rather have clean water than a box of cheap plastic tat anyway.

Going back to the OP though I would say to a friend that we don't do OCC boxes because we have looked into the organisation and have serious issues with their ideas and methods. Then leave it at that.

Oh and our school did the Mary's Meals backpack too - great project and you don't even have to fill the backpack. Just contribute what you can.

Our church is supporting our local food bank who has identified families likely to be unable to buy gifts for their kids, plus every child will get a small token gift with a Christmas good box. Our local independent supermarket has got involved with offers of turkeys (they are Muslim owned) and or local Sikh gudwara is hosting a Christmas dinner (veggie of course) open to anyone who doesn't have cooking facilities or would be alone. That said I have no issues with some Christmas information going with the boxes, they are for Christmas after all, just depends on the message

Be careful about discussing OCC here - a few members - myself included- where threatened with legal action a few years back by them for saying what people are on this thread.

I make this plea every year, if you are supporting your local Food Bank, please check what they actually want - we really do appreciate generous donations but being overwhelmed with 100s of boxes of mince pies and Christmas cakes is really not what’s needed. Every Food Bank will have different requirements.

Blythswood do a Shoebox appeal at Christmas for countries in Eastern Europe

I think the Met Police also does something each year, where you buy for a specific child based on their age and sex.

There are lots of ways to help out at Christmas.

School in a Bag is a good charity to support I think - the bags directly benefit the children which receive them.

I've seen the bags - they are tough, durable and excellent value for money.

www.google.com/search?q=school+in+a+bag&rlz=1C1CHBF_enGB842GB842&oq=school+in+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j35i39j0l2j69i60l2.2868j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I would think food with a shelf like which extends beyond January would be most useful for a foodbank at that time of year - I imagine lots is donated but that those donations dry up when everyone is a bit skint after the festivities.

I believe that Shelter have a John Lewis Wish List every year and a lot of radio stations have appeals for stuff needed locally whether it's food or toys. I think This Morning usually do a Toy Appeal too but I'm not a viewer so can't confirm.

www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/donate-gifts-in-kind/christmas-wishlist-london/

There’s a Crisis wish list.

When my DC were younger the school took shoe boxes to an elderly day centre and the children sung carols. The centre had given a list of ideas for the boxes.

You don’t have to read other people’s opinions to find out what kind of organisation Samaritan’s Purse are. The charity and its leaders are openly homophobic, islamophobic and evangelical.

I wrote to the HT at DC primary school 6 years ago, he was horrified and they stopped doing it. I wrote to their new school last autumn, same thing happened. The school they are at now is technically a Christian school but is actually very ethnically diverse and is heaving with children from multiple religions.

Once you give people more details about the organisation they are planning to support, most community leaders will walk away and find something more inclusive to support.

The problem is what you do when you see individuals supporting it- there are a few on my Facebook talking about looking forward to doing their box.

I wrote to the head teacher last year then popped in to speak to her in person but she was busy with another parent...who was also raising the same issue. We got an email later that day saying they would be supporting a different charity and thanks to those who raised concerns. Definitely raise it, most have no idea

A really interesting point from missionaries themselves is that they need to pay for the boxes:

"I also am a missionary....Botswana...and we did the shoeboxes many times before cutting it loose...it is quite costly on the receiving end. We were paying P100 = $10 for each box we wanted to give to a kid. That was to cover the ground transportation/ customs duty to cross from South Africa to Botswana / and storage fees at the port from the day of arrival until delivery to the capital of our country. Then further ground transportation from that city to the villages we worked with 6 hours north. This all seemed too much. for that P100 we could rather buy things that were more suited to those we were trying to reach. Also, the boxes never arrived until March or April anyways...so we either did the boxes and kept them until that following Christmas or usually used them and then spent funds again at Christmas time for whatever outreaches we wanted to do to focus on HIM at that time of year. If used correctly and as an evangelism tool the BOXES can be effective...but from a missionary viewpoint...so many wasted funds for items that can just as easily be bought or more appropriate things bought IN MUCH LARGER QUANTITIES and to further aid economy in our own countries...rather than being spent on a shoebox from abroad."

bushbabycolvin.blogspot.com/2017/03/boxing-up-expectations-reflections-on.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR32m3Jcm_O0_K2BVEt-ebgvCjhTILpKFUI5qKQR7G44W0wMlKr-iEElVeE

I received an email in one place I worked asking for donations.

I replied saying I liked the idea of giving to those who have less / nothing however was the writer aware that they are an evangelical Christian organisation and that if they were happy to support that then I was happy for them to continue but to be open about it but if they wanted to do something more local and not as controversial there were other shoe box schemes.

I included a couple of links.

The person organising was aghast and they went for another charity.

Another college they had a display on the 'equality and diversity' fair, unfortunately it wasn't manned, I raised objections to the head of department who said, 'the students love making the boxes up'.

I do think it helped that the first college was in a more diverse area.

REad up on it last year, they are sensitive the culture around them and although the offer of christian letrature is there it is not imposed on them. However the question of how useful are these boxes and how effective is a genuine one. It would better to send money. Round my way they do a Semeras aid which provides care for Syrian refugees.They make care packs so ask for donations of soap, har brushes, sanpads, stuff which genuinly not easy to get in a refugee site.. Last year my kids did a reverse advent calender for the food bank. (which round here is christian led.). If a charity doesn't sit right with you, stop moaning and support another. My dad supported water aid for years unitl he looked into the accounts and questioned how much was getting to the right people.

My Mum and I did 20 shoeboxes a year for 20 years. We always filled them with good quality things (I wouldn't put anything in that I wouldn't put in my own child's stocking). I knitted endless hats and hand puppets.

I stopped doing it a couple of years ago after discovering that Franklin Graham supported Trump. I feel so sad, that something which I thought was good and helpful turns out not to be.

The UK branch of Samaritan’s Purse did reassure me that there is no obligation for the children to attend an evangelist event but I just feel gutted and angry and disappointed by the whole thing now.

I'm now knitting for an independent charity who give warm clothes to people who need them with no strings attached.

I find a lot of people who preach against OCC don't actually bother doing anything for charity though!

I don't do anything for charity, however every Xmas I have a parcel delivered from Superdrug to my local refuge.

I started when someone on here said their best Xmas present was a dove shower gel she received in a refuge.

Any school supporting this charity will be in breach of its own equality policy and also in breach of the public sector equality duty, which requires them to advance equality. Supporting an evangelical Christian charity run by homophobic and islamophobic leadership is not advancing equality!

And if it’s a choice between supporting a charity that is harmful and not supporting any charity at all, then of course doing the latter is preferable!

june
The problem is that schools pick OCC so you can’t just stop moaning because it is being imposed on you.

My DCs school dropped it after a year. The school is in a multicultural area so was effectively asking people from other faiths to support an Evangelical Christian organisation

I dont support Samaritans Purse but if others want to then surely thats up to them? DS's former school did every year and we just didnt contribute - its not compulsory and ds understood that we gave to different charities.