Operation Christmas Child - Pack a Shoebox

[RuthT]

I have done this every year except last year and thought I'd lost the site - Just in case anyone else wants to pack one too.

have a look if you want m ore info operation Christmas Child

Hope it does not offend any one but I think it is a lovely thing to do for other kids

Please select from the following suggested YES items:

A cuddly toy
A toothbrush, toothpaste
A wrapped bar of soap and flannel
A notepad, colouring book
Picture books
Pencils and pencil sharpener, pens and paper
A set of crayons or felt pens
A hat, cap, gloves, scarf
A small ball or tennis ball
A puzzle e.g. small jigsaw
For boys: a toy car, truck, passenger plane or similar item
For girls: jewellery (e.g. pair of clip earrings, make-up or hair accessories)
A greetings card or a photo of yourself
Sweets (must be at least March of next year sell-by-date)
Small musical instrument

Do not include items from any of the following categories:

No chocolate due to customs regulations in some receiving countries
Other edible items (e.g. crisps, biscuits, tinned food or cake)
War related items (e.g. toy guns and soldiers, knives)
Clothing (other than listed above)
Glass containers, mirrors or fragile items
Liquids of any type (e.g. blow bubbles, shampoos, bubble bath, toiletry sets or aerosols)
Marbles or sharp objects
Anything of a political, racial or religious nature
Medicines
Novels

Looks pretty simple to do

Yes, it lovely (just done it) but blimey have you ever tried to wrap a shoebox in Christmas paper. Nightmare!

i have also done this in the past as well, but then happened across some info that really turned me off it - if anyone wants to know more its this
if anyone else has more info on it, i would be interested as i felt uneasy about it once i'd read it and i can't decide what its all about now...

In case anyone didn't know

have a look at this

In case anyone didn't know

have a look at this

No surely not - I can't believe you think you are doing something nice and it appears you're not. Is this the same one that was supported by GMTV?

There is an organization that does this without all the "baggage". Does anyone know what it is?

don't know, but i was appalled when i saw it and felt quite sickened by it all.

The Co-op no longer supports Operation Christmas Child for the reasons others have posted.

"Do not include items from any of the following categories:

No chocolate due to customs regulations in some receiving countries
Other edible items (e.g. crisps, biscuits, tinned food or cake)
War related items (e.g. toy guns and soldiers, knives)
Clothing (other than listed above)
Glass containers, mirrors or fragile items
Liquids of any type (e.g. blow bubbles, shampoos, bubble bath, toiletry sets or aerosols)
Marbles or sharp objects
Anything of a political, racial or religious* nature
Medicines
Novels "

*they like to do that themselves

Yes I think it was RuthT - But I have done a box and researched on here first and loads of threads from last year came up with the same story I decided that it was good for ds to know that not everyone in the world is as lucky and even simple things like a flannel and soap are not readily available to some people.

One thread (can't find it just at the minute) but it was from a mumsnetter who was actually living, helping and working in some place where the shoeboxes where distributed. She said that all the children were made to listen to some religous garb before getting their presents and even her children had got one even though they didn't need one just because they had tagged along with the other children in the village and listened. Someone else likened it to sitting through a timeshare speil presentation just to get a cheapo holiday.

There is another company that does a similar thing in distribution of shoebox presents but it really is genuine. I was going to mention it to the school, but they've being doing it for years with operation christmas child and don't know how to go about it.

If you do a mumsnet search for shoebox then loads of threads will come up for you to have a shuft.

DD's school is doing a shoebox appeal with OCC, I'm going to write a letter to the Head explaining why my family are not participating in the scheme and requesting that they consider going with a more secular distributor in the future (it is not a faith school)

I used to do this- i thought it was a very worthwhile thing fro th kids to learn, but stopped for the religious reasons. They go toa VERY religious school though (only one here) and that does it, but we have chosen not to aprticipate and instead we are using the Oxfam present scheme to buy little gifts for teachers and make a non-discriminatory donation via a well known charity.

You can also give gifts to charities in this country- local hospital childrens unit like to have toys for their waiting rooms (I know the Royal Gwent near us does) and some refuges do also.

21st Century Child seems to be the best of these - no prosletysing.

When you think about it anyway, there's something rather crass about an organisation that wants to take Christmas gifts into often Islamic countries, and rather sinister about the way it gets it's gifts- via children

Agree PC. And very difficult explaining why you're not completely comfortable about it to kids who just want to give some little things to other children.

There is another one, can't remember the name, google, christmas shoe box

re speaking to school, i printed all the stuff off the website and took it in to show the head who was appalled and the school has never done it since. agree that its good for kids to be able to learn about sharing and other not being as well off as them though...

I think the box is a nice idea and can't understand all this negative sentiment. After all, it is for Christmas, and that is of coure all about Christianity. It's not like they are going to kill you if you don't convert. It is a peaceful means to spread the word of Christ. Why is that wrong?

no attendance at the christian meeting, no box - think theres something wrong there, also encourage children of other religions to attend, taking them away from their parents...not too sure i would like that if it were my child

Yes, i think if they were given the boxes and invited to the chat then yes OK- but they're not, its basically payment. And why would I be giving things to a charity to convert people to believe in something i think is hocum?

Now, I have no issue with the Sally Army schemes as they are not basing receipt on any missionary structure, and I would happily encourage my children to collect for those schemes. But teyhy're doing BIBIC Chrsitmas Cards, Oxfam gifts and a few other small things.

Have a look here for an article about the story behind Samaritan's Purse. There are strings attached to this kind of giving. Our school no longer sends out shoeboxes to this charity after the teachers heard of it's motives, and the local council advises schools to avoid it.
If you want to give to a Christian NGO that helps children in the developing world with no strings attached, then I hear that Christian Aid does this.
Many of the charities have appeals and fundraising activities that will engage children - why not raise money for some items (e.g. goats, school meals (!) or a teacher) from the Oxfam Unwrapped xmas catalogue if you want to help but don't want to involve religion? The children love this kind of thing and there is no problem of making division between faiths.

Please look here to see the above article refuted. No strings are attached - all boxes are given UNCONDITIONALLY. The children have nothing, OCC gives them "Love in Box".