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Friday, November 9, 2012

Operation Christmas Child GIVEAWAY!

I have to admit, you guys – I’m a little jealous I can’t enter to win this!  lol  But it is an honor to help spread the word about this amazing organization, and I’m happy that one of you will get a fun package in the mail!

We’ll get to the giveaway in just a minute, but first, a little about Operation Christmas Child.  This is a project near and dear to my heart!  It is an outreach of Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian relief and development program run by Franklin Graham, son of the one and only Billy Graham.  The mission of OCC is “to demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

In a nutshell, every November people around the world pack a shoebox with toys, treats, and educational supplies for children in developing countries around the world.  They are distributed to the children by Christmas, and for many children this is the only gift they receive for the holiday. 

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You can choose the gender and age range of the child you’d like to buy for.  Chris and I typically choose 10-14 year old boy, just because we figure it’s probably the least shopped-for category.   We usually make it a date night – we’ll shop for the gifts, then go to Starbucks afterward! 

Here’s an example of what’s going in one of our boxes this year:

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Mini soccer ball {with an air pump}
Practice kicker for soccer ball {can you tell my husband was a soccer player?!}
Sketchpad with colored pencils, regular pencils, and a sharpener
Silly string
Washcloth, and bar of soap {not pictured}

There’s a whole list of packing ideas (and what’s not allowed to be packed) on the OCC website. 

Our church is accepting the boxes this Sunday morning, but you can use this finder on their website to find a packing location near you!  If you have additional questions about how to pack a shoebox, check out their FAQ page (please feel free to ask me a question in the comments or via e-mail, as well!). 

It is SUCH an amazing idea and I literally can’t sit through one of their videos in church without bawling my eyes out.  The kids get SO excited to see their gifts!  It is so, so precious. 

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To help spread the word about OCC, they sent me a giveaway package to send on to one of you!  Here’s what one lucky person will be getting in the mail:

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- An OCC t-shirt {second picture shows the back}.  This is a thin gray material with pretty scroll designs on it (definitely for a woman, sorry guys!).  Size L but I’m really short and it wasn’t that big on me! 

- A SIGNED, Limited Deluxe Edition “Christmas with Scotty McCreery” magazine, PLUS his new Christmas CD AND a 2013 Scotty calendar {hellooooo any American Idol fans out there?!!}**

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- Two OCC ornaments for your tree this year {one for you and one for a friend; pics below show front and back}

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So fun, right?! 

All you have to do to enter this giveaway is leave a comment on this post discussing anything you want about OCC.  Your comment can be anything from “I’ve never heard of this org before but it sounds awesome!” to “We do this every year and we always put ____ in our boxes.” 

Seriously, as long as your comment has something to do with OCC, you will be entered to win!  The giveaway closes on Monday night. 

In the meantime, it’s not too late to fill a shoebox and get it out!  A child will be so blessed by your generosity! :)

 

**The Scotty magazine came to me a little scratched in the box but the CD looks to be just fine.  I was tempted to play it and test it out but I refrained. lol.  Just wanted to give full disclosure!**

16 comments:

  1. yay! I love OCC, we have done it for a few years now and my girls love to help fill the boxes and pick the items out. I think that shirt is adorable and would love to win it! hahaha

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  2. My son(who is 7) and I have been making OCC boxes since he was 2 years old. My favorite part is that you can send toys that are not new but in great condition. My son will bring his favorite car to pack in a shoe box for a little boy he has never met. And it makes my heart sing!

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  3. I love love LOVE shoeboxes! I have done OCC since Amy was a child. I shop alot after back-to-school sales to fill up boxes with crayons, pencils, scissors, etc. and then keep my eye out for summer clearance for toys, etc. I also have "purchased" the little lamb from Samaritan's Purse for every grandchild to have in a box. I am really excited that they have made it available to see where your box ends up online! Thanks for spreading the news Jess. Love, Lynnebee

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  4. I've been doing shoeboxes since before I had kids but sadly not consistently every year. The good news is that since I've had kids, I've been more motivated to share the experience with them. Last year was the best yet because they understand more and we found out one of our boxes went to Uganda.
    We pack two boxes. One for a girl and one for a boy. I like the tree ornaments. I would love one for my tree!

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  5. We're going to do OCC this year. Meant to do it in the past, but sadly have never gotten to it!

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  6. I've done some of the other holiday donation-based operations like Angel Tree, but had never heard of OCC until I read this! Might have to try OCC this year!

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  7. My husband and I have done OCC in the past. We had small groups at our church and we would go together and fill as many shoeboxes as we could. We bought cheap plastic shoe boxes to put their items in so they would be more durable and keep their treasures. I lost my job in March, but we still plan to fill at least one shoe box!

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  8. Thank you for the information! OCC sounds amazing. We plan on participating for the first time this year!

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  9. i'm pretty sure i've done this before. its been a long time though. i remember when i was a teenager at church our small groups well my parents small group did a few boxes.

    aimymichelle[at]gmail[dot]com

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  10. My daughter participated in packing boxes for shipment this year. Our group got to particiate in the final boxes shipped from Colorado so when they finished the warehouse was completely empty! She said it was an amazing experience and can't wait to go back next holiday season.

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