Operation Christmas Child - has anyone successfully argued and won...

[Luna7993]

DDs school has already sent out a message notifying us to "Save Shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child!" Last year I got in a huge discussion with head about how I thought this was an inappropriate charity. Gearing up again for another Christmas season of arguing :(
DD goes to a CofE school (we had no other option in terms of our location) so I understand why we need to support Christian charities, but I have issues particularly with OCC due to their evangelical nature, inappropriate use of aid, etc etc (google if you need more info). I'm just wondering if anyone has ever successfully got their school to reconsider supporting this group. Thanks!

Our school have never supported them, I'm almost disappointed because I have a long ranty argument about them that I used when the toddler group we used to go to supported them.
It didn't work but it was a church run group so I can understand why.

MrsHathaway it's a C of E school. I'm going to check their values to see if inclusiveness is one of them.

I got it cancelled at work, and at my DH's work! School hasn't tried, but if it does, I'm ready with that humanistlife article linked to upthread - the best, most measured, and objective article I found on the web.

I find this really hard - a friend of mine is involved in it - and it's a nice middle class type school where everyone is nice and polite and apolitical etc

My issue with it other than the evangelical angle and the alleged anti gay sentinent is that our primary school is a county non religious one and I think the school should have chosen a suitable non religious charity

I went to catholic school and obviously it supported Cafod the catholic charity - fair enough not a problem - and in fact I think Cafod try i believe to keep the religion out of the work they do

but if I send my child to a non religious school I don't think it should advocate a religious and in particular case an evangelical style -charity -

In our schools case the situation is that a specific local church is dominated by many school mums and this sets the agenda - they ask the school to put it in the newsletter and school have it as they're Xmas charity - but I think the school themselves should be deciding the charity not a select group of school mums

It's voluntary anyway so I suppose no biggee but I do feel conflicted about it like DC would be made uncomfortable by their peers if they didn't do it but in all honesty I don't really feel comfortable being part of it - I have thought if raising it via email but have not done so

Notanetter - can you message me as our local media radio station do this.

Yes. Not me, but other parents.

The school now asks children to bring in donations for the local food bank instead, and each class makes up a box of things. It goes hand in hand with a topic of helping those less fortunate than ourselves - so perfectly in keeping with a Christian school (or any school).

I'm glad I saw this thread.

I've been umming and ahhing over whether or not to say anything to the school as I'm a new parent and didn't want to make a fuss. But I'm a fuss maker at heart....

If you want neither charity to suggest, I would put forward Mary's Meals. It also has a Christian ethos if that is I important to the school, but not its main focus. They also have a backpack project so the kids can have something to bring in if that is also important.

www.marysmeals.org.uk/

www.marysmeals.org.uk/get-involved/the-backpack-project

Deep breath. I've just sent an email to the school, leaning heavily on the emails sent by the posters who offered to help above. I am not sure how it's going to go, but at least I've stood up for something I think is wrong. In turn I am happy to post my letter here if anyone else wants to use it (obviously removing anything identifying. I used Marys Meals, Link to Hope and also the experience at my last school where we did boxes for folk at a local elderly care home. We got a letter from one of the recipients of our boxes one year (sent via the school). It reduced me to tears, it was the only gift this lady had received and she was so grateful. :(

Please could you post your letter?

I keep trying to write one but end up sounding rather too aggressive passionate.

I've been searching for mine because I know MNers have used it since but fucking Outlook has updated and eaten my Sent items.

From memory I gave a nice shit sandwich. Something like...

I understand that the school is intending to support the Operation Christmas Child appeal this Christmas. I'm glad that the children are being encouraged to think of others less fortunate than themselves at the festive season and learn about the joy of giving.

However, I have reservations about the appropriateness of the school's supporting that particular appeal, because it is an openly evangelical project and the school is non-denominational / because there is some controversy surrounding the organising charity, Samaritan's Purse.

I would love to suggest one of the following projects instead of Operation Christmas Child, which have the same aims and the same message for our children, without the problems I've mentioned above:

Mary's Meals - did you know that you can feed a child for a YEAR for the cost of six days' school dinners at ?

They also have a Backpack Project which aims to keep children in school by supporting their participation.

I'd be delighted to discuss this with you if you would like more details.

Best wishes

Ha, we just had our letter home about this, I complained last year, and the teacher running the scheme banned me from emailing her about it! Id only emailed once, asking why they thought it was appropriate, but obviously she was used to there being "that one parent" and sent me an email back saying she would not be speaking to me again, and any emails from me would be forwarded to the head!!!
I explained to DS why we wouldn't be supporting it, and have left it at that. I know I'm not the only one who wont send a box in after googling the "Charity".

Well, I've heard back from the head! Kelper I would ignore that teacher and email the head directly. Here's what she said:

"I haven't read it all yet but have been working with XXX, XXXand XXX and the diocese over the last few weeks considering prayerfully our historic affiliation with Samaritan's Purse and OCC. We have, interestingly, already decided to support Mary's Meals instead, which I have noticed you have pointed out further down your email.

I am sorry that the office ladies weren't aware of this as I can see that you spent a lot of time on writing the e-mail. I have told them now!"

From Squalor with Love it was essentially a MUCH longer version of MrsHathaway's letter (I'mnot good at brevity). I'll post it even though it's clearly had nothing to do with their change of heart in case it helps someonoe.

Here you go. It's long I'm crap at being concise please forgive any unintentional typos/grammatical issues with inserting quotes. Thank you very much again to the lovely two Mumsnetters who sent me their letters, as you can see, you have played your part!

"I am writing to you with regards to the Operation Christmas Child Christmas box scheme. I am very aware that I am new to the school and therefore a little light on background knowledge so I hope you will take this email in the spirit it is sent and forgive me if this has all been discussed and resolved in past years. It is a little LONG but hopefully you will forgive this too! I like to start stocking up for things for our Christmas shoe boxes and asked the office which charity we at XXX support, and was advised that it is Operation Christmas Child. I would like to express my concerns at the affiliation that XXX has with this charity.

I have the greatest respect for the charitable activities of the school, and support them wherever possible. I have also been incredibly impressed by the way that Christian values are interwoven through all the activities of the school, and wholeheartedly support this.
I am not sure if you are aware of the controversy surrounding Samaritan’s Purse/Operation Christmas Child, so felt I ought to write to you in case the school was unaware. Unfortunately I do not feel able to support the Operation Christmas Child shoebox appeal due to evangelical nature of the parent organisation, Samaritan’s Purse, and in particular the President, Franklin Graham (son of the evangelist, Billy Graham) and their link to his father’s Evangelistic Association and their “Greatest Journey” curriculum (it is documented that the shoeboxes have been used as leverage to sign up children to the course, with little regard or respect for the children's religious or cultural affiliations). They say on their website that "In the hands of local churches, every gift-filled shoebox is a powerful tool for evangelism and discipleship". Children are invited/coerced to attend Christianity lessons after receiving their boxes and then encouraged to convert and bring others to their new faith.
I feel it is inappropriate to support an organisation whose founder is blatantly and publicly intolerant of other religions as demonstrated by such quotes describing Islam as “a very wicked and evil religion”. On Hinduism he says “…we travelled to the subcontinent of India, with its hundreds of millions of people locked in the darkness of Hinduism… These people were bound by Satan’s power.”
I also cannot ignore his homophobic beliefs, demonstrated by writing in his magazine that Vladimir Putin's state-sanctioned homophobia should serve as a lesson to President Obama. They very clearly campaign against equal right and same-sex marriage in particular (www.samaritanspurse.org/article/persecution-against-u-s-christians-on-the-rise/) for example. This website probably explains more clearly what I am trying to say: humanism.org.uk/humanism/humanism-today/humanists-doing/good-causes-and-charities/samaritans-purse/.
I feel strongly that this charity has extreme values which are diametrically opposed to my own and our school’s own values: on our website, the values of respect, trust, kindness and care are named specifically, and although I couldn’t find anything that lists the school’s core Christian values (just reference to a Christian Ethos), from what I have observed, I’d imagine, tolerance and inclusiveness will also be in there somewhere. The aims and statements of Samaritan’s Purse are not respectful, tolerant, or kind and I feel strongly that this is not a charity I wish to support.

The website www.humanistlife.org states the following: “Several other charitable organisations and reputable businesses, including the Cooperative, have withdrawn their support for Operation Christmas Child.[i] The charity Save The Children has questioned its effectiveness and expressed concerns about the use of evangelism in the context of people in need. Some leading teachers’ Unions, including the NASUWT, have pointed out the difficult position that schools are placing themselves in when they support such charities without giving careful thought to their stated mission. I read on another website that the Charities Commission has also expressed concern that “for hiding their missionary aims from teachers and parents of school children asked to support the scheme, and from volunteers helping the project[6]. They found that Operation Christmas Child "appeal leaflets sent to parents and teachers say nothing about any missionary aim, or religious affiliation."[6]
I do think it is a fantastic idea for the children to be involved in giving, supporting and thinking of others, in particular at Christmas time (values of kindness and care). There are many alternatives to Samaritan’s Purse. At our last school, we prepared Christmas gift boxes for elderly residents of local care homes – boxes tailored for either a man or a woman. One year we got a card from the resident who received our box (XXXX’s Christmas card had her name on the back and the card was sent to her care of the school). It was heart-breaking – this box was the only gift this lady had received. We read it out at a XXX meeting and it reduced us all to tears. The scheme was very popular, partly because we knew exactly where the boxes were going and also that it was a local initiative.
Another possibility is Mary's Meals, which runs a backpack project. (www.marysmeals.org.uk/get-involved/the-backpack-project/). Link to Hope is a Christian organisation providing gifts to children in Eastern Europe, but without any ulterior motive (linktohope.co.uk). There are also secular alternatives such as the Rotary Club shoebox appeal, I wonder if you would consider offering these as alternatives in the future?
I am sorry this is such a long letter, but I wanted to make sure that I offered some explanation and evidence. If the school is committed to Samaritan’s Purse then I hope you will understand that we will not be taking part and will instead donate a box or two to a local old people’s home. Thank you for reading this and I hope you will understand why I felt I had to write.
Warm regards"

Oh my sweet heavens above! SO long! Sorry what an idiot

Dark our headteacher is utter shite, so I just ignore the letter and pray my son doesnt get that particular teacher as he goes up the school!
Love your letter though :)

notanetter could you pm the details please? We have exactly the same at our school yet parents and school don't seem to know about how corrupt that charity is.

Notanetter - flounces - my letter not good enough then? just joking

I'm waiting to hear back from our school - there seems to be an issue that the OCC is a pet project of one of the staff...am really hoping the SLT will find some gonads and say tough!! Otherwise dd and I will be doing an individual backpack for Mary's Meals.

notanetter could you pm the details please? We have exactly the same at our school yet parents and school don't seem to know about how corrupt that charity is.

Between this and the annual Poncetastic Christmas thread, it really does kick off the beginning of the Christmas countdown.

I sent an e-mail at a college I worked at, the reply was basically, "OMG I had no idea, we really should not be supporting this".

Oh good god, the local groups FB page that I was thinking of joining has just posted their second annual drive for boxes for Samaritans purse.

placemarking as I have a letter to write too...

My kids are at a really great non-denominational school - and I have prepared this email in response to the Samaritans Purse appeal. Somehow, I'm not yet sure if I am going to send. Part me keeps coming back to whether there is actually any harm to those who get the boxes - even if the founder is really disgusting! Please suggest any changes and remind me why it's important to not ignore and actually send!!

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As a relatively new parent in the school, I've thought hard about whether to send this email - but I think on balance it is better to explain my objection, rather than simply ask my children not to take part. Please take this email in the spirit in which it is intended.

Firstly, I wholeheartedly support the fact that in a pretty privileged area, the school is looking to help those less fortunate - I think this is fantastic and wholly support the objective.

However, I have some issues with the email and organisation below...

The email says Samaritans, rather than Samaritan's Purse. The Samaritans are a fantastic organisation lending a helping ear to those in distress and with suicidal thoughts.

Samaritan's Purse, on the other hand, is an unrelated organisation run by an Evangelical Christian called Franklin Graham. He some rather extreme views including calling on America to ban the immigration of all Muslims and openly supporting the 2013 Russian "anti-Gay" legislation.

When the boxes are distributed, it is accompanied by literature from his church, and encouragement to attend follow-up lessons in what appears to be a rather fundamentalist and uninclusive form of Christianity.

I strongly believe if the children knew the real nature of Samaritan's Purse, they would not have voted for something which appears to be at odds with the British values of mutual respect and tolerance, and individual liberty.

Anyway, we are where we are, and I am very sure that the school's decision to support the Shoebox appeal was made with the very best of intentions. Can I, however, suggest that next year, perhaps a more appropriate cause - local foodbanks (the Trussell Trust, Rotary club shoebox appeal, "Link to Hope" shoeboxes, Project Shoebox etc be considered instead?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

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Thoughts please.....