Operation Christmas Child and Samaritan's Purse

I mentioned at the beginning of October that on the first of every month I would be promoting a non-profit that I found amazing and that was doing work I think everyone should support.  Last month it was the Camellia Network, and this month it is Operation Christmas Child or Samaritan's Purse.

Here is a video about Operation Christmas Child I suggest watching.  It gives some great info about the program!

If you don't watch a video here are some things to know:

The mission of Operation Christmas Child 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.

This year the goal of OCC is to surpass 100 million shoe box gifts packed and distributed since 1993!

I was lucky enough to help pack two shoe boxes already through my Mothers of Preschoolers group, but I will be doing at least one more with money from my monthly Mary Kay paycheck and maybe more depending on sales!  Each month I send out an email to my customers and this month they will know that a portion of my sales will go to support this great organization.

Something important to know is that the collection dates are November 12-19th, so if this is something you and your family would like to participate in, you have only a couple of weeks to get it done!  Totally do-able.  I know people who don't shop for their own family's Christmas gifts until Christmas Eve, so two weeks is plenty of time to pack a shoe box!

If you don't make the deadline, but would still like to give to Samaritan's Purse, they have a wonderful gift catalog, where you can select what type of gift you would like to donate.  Through the catalog you can give things like milk for a baby for $4, or clean drinking water for a family for $15.  You could give the gift of a blanket for $6, a fishing boat for $50,  a small livestock animal for $20 or something even bigger like flying a child to receive heart surgery for $2200, or building a school for $20,000.  The point is, there is something for everyone at every giving level.  Everyone who is reading this blog can spare $4!  You can also use that link to donate $7 for a shoe box gift if you'd like to do that rather than making one of your own.

I love this organization and I love what they do to help people around the globe.  I encourage you to check them out and to put together a shoebox with your family today. 

If you are in the Tulsa area and are looking for a drop off location, I know several!  Just leave me a comment and I will be sure to send you the info.  Otherwise, their link has a place to look up drop off locations in your area.