For the month of November, they are having a Packing Party for Operation Christmas Child and need people to bring items to put IN the boxes!

Please deliver the items to church no later than 10 am on Sunday, Nov 17th. They need a little time to set up the packing party, so if you can get there a little before 10, that is even better. After a short service, the Packing Party will begin! (You can also bring these items on Sunday, Nov 3th, Sunday, Nov 10th, or drop off at church anytime we are open!)

1) They would love for each box to have a “WOW” item…a stuffed animal, barbie, Lego set, full sized (deflated) ball WITH A HAND PUMP, a small musical instrument (harmonica, tambourine, recorder, etc), etc.

2) After the WOW item, they want to make sure each child has some necessary personal items…a toothbrush, a bar of soap, a washcloth, a comb or brush, some cute band-aids, socks or underwear, etc. For teenage girls, we can add some washable feminine pads.

3) Then, of course, they want to PACK the boxes FULL with age appropriate fun extras…toy cars, small balls, card games, sunglasses, pencils & a pencil sharpener, pens, crayons and a coloring book, markers, or colored pencils, paper pads, watercolor sets (not liquid), glue sticks, play dough, stickers, jump ropes, hair ties, bracelets, slinkies, etch-a-sketches, yo-yos, puzzles, etc. Please remember that most of the children receiving these boxes will not be able to read English, so avoid items with a lot of reading required.

Some items cannot be sent. PLEASE DO NOT BRING:
– Candy OR gum
– chocolate, seeds, fruit rolls or other fruit snacks, drink mixes (powdered or liquid), or any other food
– toothpaste
– used or damaged items
– war-related items such as toy guns, knives, or military figures
– liquids or lotions
– medications or vitamins
– breakable items such as snow globes or glass containers
– aerosol cans
– nail polish
– anything that won’t fit well in a shoe box

PLEASE NOTE – If you bring anything that needs batteries, PLEASE bring replacement batteries to go with it! Batteries can be sent in their original packaging, or need to be TAPED on both ends. Thanks!

For MOST items, they will remove things from their cardboard and plastic packaging. They don’t want space taken up with disposable packaging that they don’t have the infrastructure to get rid of. You may do that ahead of time, or they will do that as part of the set-up that morning.

In the past, they have made upwards of 50-60 boxes. So, let’s shoot for filling at least 50!!

If your family has packed boxes on your own, feel free to bring your completed boxes by 10 am that day as well. Please just make sure they are FILLED with all allowed

Everyone will try to include a note of encouragement for each child.

Each box costs approximately $10 to ship to the end location. So ideally, they would also like to gather donations for the $10 per each box that is donated. If everyone completes 50 boxes, that would be $500. If you’d like to cover some part of the shipping, please bring your checks made out to “Samaritan’s Purse”. OR, you can go to https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/ways-to-give/ and pay for the number of boxes you’d like to cover. Just make sure you print out and bring the packing slips so they can attach those to some of the boxes they fill, so you can see where they end up!!