How Are the Shoebox Gifts Distributed to the Children Who Need Them?

This is an excellent question, and one that could be answered many different ways. After all, Operation Christmas Child distributed nearly 8 million shoebox gifts in 2008-2009, and will likely exceed 8 million in this year's collection for 2009-2010.

Your shoebox gift(s) are collected at a local church or business, forwarded to a regional city (in our case, usually Tulsa), and then forwarded to one of the 6 Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child regional processing centers scattered across the United States. The closest one to us is Denver, and there are 'home missions' opportunities for volunteers to help with processing during December. That might be the subject of a future post.

At the regional processing centers, your shoebox gift undergoes final processing to meet OCC's guidelines and to prepare it for shipping. It is my understanding that the #1 desire of the processing crews is to only seal the box to prevent shipping damage. However, the processing crews might remove prohibited objects such as liquids, war-related toy items, or other inappropriate content. Unwrapped shoebox gifts are then wrapped with a thematic wrapping material for final shipping.

I am very unacquainted with the logistics and timing of final delivery to villages and cities of the recipient countries. I'm almost certain that Samaritan's Purse has to 'declare' these goods at some checkpoint as they enter countries. Samaritan's Purse will 'network' with their own missionaries and cooperate with other missions staff to optimize a gift delivery to a village's children.

The video below shows how the final shoebox delivery might look in an impoverished village. In this case, the delivery occurs in Kamenica, in the war-torn country of Kosovo. Also, in this case, the uploaded video is very raw. I sought out and chose such a video for a reason. I wanted our participants to see a 'real' shoebox gift distribution, free of professional editing, musical backgrounds, perfect weather, etc. I personally have nothing against the 'official videos' and will gladly show them, but I wanted to show a more realistic presentation of a typical gift distribution.

Will There Be a Movie at Our Local Shoebox Packing Party?

Yes! As part of our first church-wide Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Packing Party, we will show a new VeggieTales release "St. Nicholas - A Story of Joyful Giving."

This video has an important thematic tie-in to the joyful giving that defines Operation Christmas Child. We think the children will enjoy it, and it will be a great finish to our Shoebox Gift Packing Party.

Embedded below is the promotional movie trailer for "St. Nicholas - A Story of Joyful Giving."

What Is a Shoebox Packing Party?

Our church is trying something new this year - a Shoebox Gift Packing Party. Read on and watch the video to get the background and see a very large packing party in action.

The year 2009 represents the fourth year for our church (First Baptist, Pawnee, OK) to formally participate in Operation Christmas Child. (Our efforts for 2006, 2007, and 2008 are briefly summarized here, here, and here.)

Our local organizers have proposed a 'Shoebox Gift Packing Party' for several reasons:

1. It can be a fun fellowship time with a missions emphasis.
2. It can foster new participation in the Shoebox gift program, especially for those limited with available time or resources.
3. It can introduce an 'economy of scale' to increase the number of children that can be positively impacted by this program.

This 'Shoebox Packing Party' is not a substitute for the regular shoebox gift giving by our participants. It is a SUPPLEMENTAL activity created for the reasons above.

But, now to return to the title of the entry - What is a Shoebox Packing Party? It will be a defined time for our church to come together and package 30 boxes - assembly line style - using resources donated by our church family - one box of crayons and one stuffed animal at a time. The embedded video - provided courtesy of Operation Christmas Child - shows what one Shoebox Gift Packing Party might look like. In this case, they package 2000 boxes. Enjoy!

First Baptist Pawnee: 2008 Shoebox Gift Collection

In the year 2008, the First Baptist Church of Pawnee, OK, corporately donated approximately 85 boxes, showing again steady growth in the program from our local perspective. Our collection point changed this year to the First Baptist Church in Stillwater (pictured). From this point, boxes are placed into larger cardboard boxes, shipped in trucks to Tulsa, then in larger trucks to Denver or any of 5 other regional processing centers for final inspection and preparation for sending to a needy child overseas.

First Baptist Pawnee: 2007 Shoebox Gift Collection

The year 2007 marked our church's second year to formally participate in an organized fashion. This year, we contributed over 75 shoebox gifts.

Operation Christmas Child: How To Pack a Shoebox Gift

This video provided via Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child website. Following these instructions makes it easier on those who prepare your gift for final shipping - it ensures your intentions make it all the way to the child.

First Baptist Pawnee: 2006 Shoebox Gift Collections

The first year for First Baptist Church of Pawnee to participate fully in Operation Christmas Child was 2006. That year, we collected and donated over 65 shoebox gifts. Our church is relatively small, but supports missions efforts enthusiastically.

Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child: More Info

How do I find out more information about Samaritan's Purse "Operation Christmas Child"?

Follow this link:

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/

Welcome: Pawnee - Operation Christmas Child

Hi
This site is constructed for sharing announcements, FAQ's, and other helps for Operation Christmas Child for the people of Pawnee, Oklahoma. Currently, this is directed at members of the First Baptist Church of Pawnee, OK, but there may be efforts in the future to incorporate other Pawnee area churches into the effort.