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November 14, 2008 - Issue 5 Series 1 |
Home and Garden |
The Beacon |
Editorial - Sports - Entertainment - Home & Garden - Fundraisers - Classifieds & Ads - Clubs & Orgs. - Principal's Notes - Guidance - Puzzle |
Operation Christmas Child Written By: Katheryn Operation Christmas Child is a program to help bring joy and hope to children living in poverty. It gives these children a reminder that they are precious and loved. To participate in this program, basically all you have to do is pack a gift box and send it on its way. You can choose the age group and gender of the child you would like to sponsor and you can even choose the country you want your package delivered to. Operation Christmas Child is made available by a larger program called Samaritan's Purse and it is headed by Franklin Graham. The Program was started in 1993 and has been a big success. Last year, Samaritan's Purse distributed gift boxes in over 100 different countries around the world and over 7.5 million hurting children got to experience Christmas for the first time. The National Collection Week is the week of November 17-24. This is when all shoeboxes are due at local drop off locations. Our local drop of location for the gift boxes is the South Branch Inn in Moorefield and our local representative is Kristi Stump and she can be contacted at (304)530-7868. Volunteers are also needed during national collection week, if you are interested, contact your local representative. There are many different things that you can put in your gift boxes. It is good to give school supplies, such as, pens, pencils, crayons, markers, stamps and ink pad sets, writing pads or paper, and coloring books. For older children you can send more advanced supplies, like, calculators, rulers, and other math tools. It would also be good to send things like a toothbrush, toothpaste, combs, washcloths, and other hygiene items. Some good toy ideas would be small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, and jump ropes. If you are packing any toy that requires batteries to work, be sure to send some extra batteries as well. Other things that are nice to send are tee shirts, socks, ball caps, sunglasses, hair clips, watches, and flashlights. One of the best things to include in your gift box is a note from you, in a separate envelope, and a picture of you or your family. This is important because these children feel a connection that someone out there cared enough to think of them and help support the love and hope of Christianity. There are also some things that are important not to include: used or damages items, war-related items (toy guns, knives, or military figures), chocolate or food, out-of-date candy, liquids or lotions, or breakable items such as snow globes or glass containers. After you have purchased the gifts, the first thing you need to do is get an empty shoebox or a small plastic container. Wrapping the box is optional, but if you choose to wrap the box, you must wrap the box and lid separately. Next, fill the box with all the gifts you have purchased and fill out the label with the age category you chose (2-4, 5-9, or 10-14). You can get the label at www.samartianspurse.org. Be sure to include a $7 donation in the box to help pay for the shipping of your gift box. You may also get the donation envelope online at the Samaritan's Purse website mentioned above. If you or your family is sending more than one box, be sure to make a combined donation. Place a rubber band around the closed shoebox and tape the boy/girl label on the top. |
The most important thing for you to do when packing your gift box is to pray for the child that will be receiving your box. Plastic boxes are a very good idea because these children will need the container to keep and protect the items. Also, wrapping the package or enclosing wrapping paper does not only add beauty to the package but the children many times use the paper to decorate their living area. Please remember, these children are not only very poor, but some are homeless and this may be the only gift they receive. If you want to help and do not have time or means to prepare a shoebox, you can simply donate money to help ship the other shoeboxes. This program shows that all it takes is a simple gift to show children that someone cares about them. Operation Christmas Child is just one way that we can help others. If you are interested in this program or other programs provided by Samaritan's Purse please take the time to care and visit them at www.samaritanspurse.org. Resource: www.samaritanspurse.org |
If your stuck in your house bored with nothing to do read a book, do your homework, clean your room, watch a movie or watch TV, play a board game, and if you have something like Dance Dance Revolution you could dance, cook something just don't burn your house down and if you don't usually cook I wouldn't cook try to cook. Be creative make a game up you can play. If your a girl do your hair a different way then you usually do and if your a boy you can to. If you have a camera you can take pictures of you or if you have animals take pictures of them if you don't want to take pictures of you. If you like listening to music you could sing. Clean your closet if its a mess. If you like talking you could talk call a friend and if they live close maybe they could come over and you could do something together. You could write a story and if you don't like stories you could write a poem. If you like to draw, draw pictures. Help your mom out clean the house for her, do laundry. You could look up stuff on the internet. If you don't have a dishwasher you can wash dishes. If you have like a Play Station 2 you could play some games on there. If your planning on going to college you could go on the internet if you have a computer and look at different colleges online. |
Things To Do Inside |
By: Kaitlin |
Copyright 2008 MHS, Last update November 14, 2008 |