Are you ready for Operation Christmas Child’s Collection Week?
It’s coming up fast! November 14-21, 2016!
Shoeboxes? Check.
Packing list? Check.
Volunteer slots? Um.
Wait, what?
Yes, volunteer slots! Are you on the calendar for your local Collection Center? If you’re not, let me tell you what you’ve been missing out on.
A happy, festive atmosphere.Volunteering at a Collection Center can be really fun. At the Inland Northwest Regional Center where we always help out, there are Christmas goodies, and holiday music, and hot beverages.
There are even things for the kids to do when they’re not running shopping carts out to bring in shoeboxes.
Friendships.
There are old friends to visit with and new ones to make. OCC is a small community of people who dedicate their time to bringing Christmas– and Jesus– to kids. The community grows each year, adding new faces and new friends.
Opportunity to serve.
You can choose from many different days and times during Collection Week. The boys and I usually help out on the first Monday and Tuesday, Friday, and then always all day the last Sunday. That’s the day when all the stragglers come in, some in the trunks of cars, but often in large buses.
We fill cartons all day long and load them into the trailers. It’s a long day but so rewarding! Our Collection Center has day and evening hours on the weekdays, making it easy to find a time that works for you.
Faith building.
Another thing that we do at the Collection Center is watch videos from box distributions.
We hear the stories of miracles- from a girl who had no shoes and received a pair that fit her perfectly, to others whose unique needs were met by the contents of a shoebox. We also pray, over the trucks and the shoeboxes. Oh do we pray!
If you’ve never put together a shoebox donation for Operation Christmas Child, here are 10 Things You Should Know About OCC Shoeboxes.
