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Original poster

Have you heard of Operation Christmas Child and are you doing it?

47 replies

handlemecarefully · 28/10/2004 09:37

If you haven't heard of this charity personally I think its fab.

Basically you prepare shoe boxes full of small Christmas gifts for kids in hospitals, orphanages, refugee camps etc overseas. My NCT tea group always does a couple of boxes every year. Its really rewarding and gives you a warm glow inside imagining the childs pleasure on getting something just for them

The web address is www.samaritanspurse.uk.com (sorry being a luddite I am crap at doing links)

OP posts:
captainCOD · 28/10/2004 09:37

yes and yes

wobblyknicks · 28/10/2004 09:39

Yes and yes - its also interesting doing it with a mate and arguing about the age suitability

morningmayhem · 28/10/2004 09:39

here

soapbox · 28/10/2004 09:45

Yes - we do it through the children's school!

JuniperDewdrop · 28/10/2004 11:57

yes we do it through our Church. My mam and aunt are too

mykidsmum · 28/10/2004 12:01

Yep we did it through School too!!

JoolsToo · 28/10/2004 12:05

ditto CaptainCOD!!

yes and yes!

Skate · 28/10/2004 12:24

Do it every year!

In fact, you've reminded me I need to get it sorted as I'm sure they have to be done by 11th Nov or something like that.

Wifeof · 28/10/2004 12:31

Yes, I've done it for the first time this year with my kids to help them appreciate the true meaning of Christmas, which I think is soooo important.

They're really chuffed with their box and I hope more people will start.

yurtgirl · 28/10/2004 13:02

Message withdrawn

Kayleigh · 28/10/2004 13:04

Yes have heard of it, and yes we will be doing it. We do it through school too. My ds1 loves putting the box together. Thanks for reminder - must go but some stuff for it

nm · 28/10/2004 13:08

Yes - we have all the stuff together and just need to make up the boxes. I think it's important for my gg (4.5) to know there are children who don't have as many "things" as she does

nm · 28/10/2004 13:10

my dd even!!! must preview!

pixel · 28/10/2004 16:47

Thanks for reminding me. We did it last year and intend to this year but I've been meaning to look up the local drop-off points and kept forgetting. So now I've found out I'd better get on with it!

BTW I just looked at the website and they are collecting between 5th and 20th November.

jampot · 28/10/2004 16:58

we are doing it and have successfully blagged 12 lego clickits bracelet kits from my local dept store to put in some boxes. Just need to find hte boxes now.

Shimmy21 · 28/10/2004 17:00

I hate to be the one negative on this thread and am ready to be shouted down. It's just that last year there was some stuff in the press about this charity putting evangelical Christian literature into the boxes and they often go to Muslim countries (where Christmas is obviously not celebrated anyway). I have stopped doing the boxes at my kids' school because I'm very uncomfortable about the Christian propoganda element. I might be wrong about this and many people probably disagree with my anti-evangelism stance!

soapbox · 28/10/2004 17:09

Shimmy - there was a recent thread on this and someone who lives in an Islamic country and has seen teh boxes being distributed said that the Christian literature is removed in these circumstances.

Having said that the Christmas theme may still shine through - although I suspect the children are glad of the pressies any way and couldn;t give a monkey whether its wrapped in funny looking paper

Shimmy21 · 28/10/2004 17:25

Thanks Soapbox - if that's the case I'll rethink my veto but I am still a bit suspicious about it. Their leaflets don't mention anything about their evangelical activities and so I find it a bit underhand of them to put the literature in later.

JulieF · 28/10/2004 22:39

The leaflets say that where it is appropriate (ie in Christian countries) they will include a book of bible stories with the Xmas message) Otherwose they specifically state that the boxes contain nothing of a political/religious nature.

Branster · 28/10/2004 22:59

Shimmy21 in this particular case, operation Christmas Child, no religious propaganda is involved at all (at least not to my knowledge, and I have been involved with this scheme for a while now).

It is a wonderful gift and if any of you had any idea how much pleasure these children get from opening their little boxes, you wouldn't stop crying if you saw their faces...

It saddenss me a great deal, every Christmas, when i know it only costs probably less than £5 to make a poor child truely happy with little nothings and my bloody nieces, nephews atec turn thier noses up at presents we give them worth £50 each, and they expect to receive them, whereas these children don't expect anything at all.

Shimmy21 · 28/10/2004 23:31

Branster, do you mind me asking how you've been involved. It sounds as if you've actually seen the boxes being delivered.

sallystrawberry · 28/10/2004 23:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Aero · 28/10/2004 23:50

us too - in fact the kids have done one each which is nice.

KristinaM · 28/10/2004 23:51

Yes and Yes

Branster · 28/10/2004 23:56

oh, not that much unfortunatelly but I work closely with a local woman who collects these boxex every year, she gives them to a woman who works for the charity.from there the boxes are verified and sent over to specific coutries. this other woman told me annectodes related to these children. but above all, i come from one of the coutries where these boxes go to. although we were not a poor family , i have very good knowledge of how life is for those kids, i played with kids like those when i was little, i remember everything. even if my family was not poor for the standards over there, we had nothing like what children say from this country had even in those days. and i remember getting really excited about the smallest of things, things my own dd wouldn't even look at and she's not even 3!
imagine that some of these children might be living in remote areas, small villages, in the middle of nowhere! very cold winters, school might be miles away and they have to walk there on their own etc etc. for example even a cheap plastic bangle which nobody would look at here, only maybe for a dressing up costume say, a little 5 year old girl over there would think it's a fantastic jewel. not that she hasn't been exposed to the real stuff, but they can't afford anything, no proper toys, no pretty dresses etc. it's difficult to explain, if you haven't seen it with your eyes, or experienced it yourself... i know you understand perfectlly well, but nobody can possibly feel it truely if they were not there...