Beacon 1-21

Page 8A THE BEACON January 2021
Boxes of Love
By Mary-Alice Helms
It’s an impressive sight.
Nearly five hundred cheerful
red-and-white-striped shoeboxes
stacked in neat rows
at the front of the sanctuary
of the church. Boxes of
shoes? In church?
These are not ordinary
shoeboxes, of course. At this
time of year, boxes matching
these can be seen in thousands
of churches across the
country. They won’t be staying
in their resting places for
long, however. And they are
far from empty. Soon they
will be loaded onto huge
planes and jetted all over the
world as a part of a gigantic
project called “Operation
Christmas Child”, an outreach
of Franklin Graham’s
Samaritan’s Purse. Franklin
Graham is the son of the
famous evangelist Dr. Billy
Graham, and he has chosen
to advance his father’s
legacy by enabling caring
Americans to provide Christmas
gifts to the world’s poorest
children. Most of these
children live in the starkest
of poverty and lack the basic
necessities of life. Many
have never received a gift in
their impoverished lives.
“Operation Christmas
Child” was born in 1993,
when a friend of Mr. Graham’s
asked him to provide
some help for the children
living in Bosnia. This wartorn
country had more than
its share of children traumatized
by years of war
and poverty. These children
seemed so lost and sad that
he wrote to Mr. Graham
about them.
According to the Samaritan’s
Purse website, the
request somehow got lost in
the shuffle of other concerns
until it was repeated
just a month or two before
Christmas. In what was
a miracle of organization
and the opening of hearts,
eleven thousand shoeboxes
filled with toys and supplies
were sent to the children in
Bosnia. Since that first effort
in 1993, more than one
hundred seventy-eight million
children in more than
one hundred fifty countries
have received an Operation
Christmas Child shoebox.
I remember the first year
when our church became
a part of the project. Our
gifts were packed into actual
shoeboxes, each of which
we wrapped in colorful
Christmas paper. As might
be expected, the boxes
were of different sizes and
shapes; some sturdy and
beautifully wrapped, others
needing to be reinforced
and rewrapped. As the effort
became larger, I’m sure that
the unevenness of the boxes
caused headaches in packing
into planes and transporting
them. That’s when Samaritan’s
Purse used some of
its donated funds to supply
sturdy, uniform boxes to participating
groups. These containers
come flattened, with
no instructions for folding
them properly into box form.
I mention this little detail,
being a person who is all
thumbs and has absolutely
no construction talents. For
people like me, getting those
flat pieces of cardboard into
shape is a challenge.
One would think that, after
performing this task for so
many years, those of us who
are so challenged would
remember how it is done.
But, no!
Fortunately, the contrary
boxes do come together.
There are always volunteers
who will gladly assemble
them for us if they are asked
to do so. I am just as contrary
and refuse to be defeated
by an inanimate piece
of cardboard!
Each box carries with it a
suggested list of items that
are especially appreciated
by children. Some things are
prohibited due to possible
leakage during transport or
which might contribute to
other problems. At first, candy
was included among the
gifts, but that has become a
“no-no”. Melting chocolate
is an obvious problem, but
also to be considered were
possible hazards to children
with dietary problems, such
as diabetes or food allergies.
Included with each box is
a label to be attached to the
lid, identifying the contents
as being meant for a boy or
girl, and making sure that
4 9 7
8 7 4
6 3
5 1 9
9 7 2
5 4 1 3
5 2 6
2 4 8
1 3
Sudoku
Sudoku is a logical puzzle game that may seem difficult at
first glance, but actually it is not as hard as it looks! Fill a
number in to every cell in the grid, using the numbers 1 to
9. You can only use each number once in each row, each
column, and in each of the 3×3 boxes. The solution can be
found on our website www.goBEACONnews.com/print_
edition. Click on the link for Sudoku and view the solution
for this month and last. Good luck and have fun!
the gifts are age-appropriate.
People commonly start
searching sales aisles all
year to find the best buys on
school items such as notebooks,
pens, and colored
markers as well as small
toys and gadgets. Also popular
are toothbrushes, bars of
soap, and washcloths. I have
wonderful memories of my
small granddaughter taking
great delight in helping to
choose just the right gifts for
each box we filled.
In our parish, members
Linda and Ross Hillman
head the Shoebox campaign.
Along with their volunteer
helpers, they spend countless
hours sorting and checking
the boxes. For those who
wish to donate but can’t do
the shopping, Linda will
take care of that for them.
What a deal! Donations not
only come from churches but
other organizations. Also,
empty boxes placed in businesses
around town are filled
and returned to the church.
What happens to the shoeboxes
once they are collected
locally? They are taken
to one of several distribution
centers located around the
country. There, thousands of
volunteer workers carefully
go over each box, ensuring
that they are properly packed
and do not contain unacceptable
items. From these
centers, huge semis haul the
boxes to transport planes
where the boxes are sent to
countries all over the world.
Many forms of transportation
are used to see that
children in even the remotest
countries are not forgotten.
On foot, by mule, bicycle,
camel, llama, jeep- any
means are used to get gifts
to waiting children. Videos
that would melt the hardest
of hearts testify to the
joy with which these small
gifts are received. Picture
thousands of smiling faces
and eager hands reaching for
those gifts from America.
They truly are boxes of love!
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