Christmas Shoebox

Today, I wanted to share with you all something I'm doing for charity this year. Does anyone remember filling shoeboxes at school that would be sent to childen in other countries for Christmas? These shoeboxes may have been sent as part of 'Operation Christmas Child' which is run by a charity called Samaritan's Purse. Everytime I've mentioned that I'm taking part, people tell me about their memories of filling the shoeboxes at school but neither my primary school or high school did it and so this is the first Christmas shoebox I'm making. I've wanted to put together one of these shoeboxes for ages so I'm happy I've finally been able to do it. 

I first heard about Operation Christmas Child via facebook, when I watched a video that my friends were sharing of a group of children opening shoeboxes filled with gifts. It was so lovely and moving to see the children getting so excited with massive smiles on their faces as they looked through their shoeboxes. It's only cost me around £15 to fill the box plus a postage donation so it's really worth it if I can make a child somewhere in the world that happy this Christmas. Here is a similar video I found on youtube... 

If anyone else wants to take part, you have until the 18th of this month to take your filled shoeboxes to a local drop-off point (locate yours here). To begin with, all you need is a medium sized shoebox which you need to wrap in Christmas paper. Decide whether you want to send your box to a boy or a girl, and then choose one of the age categories: 2-4 years, 5-9 years or 10-14 years. There are labels on the Samaritan's Purse website that you need to print off and stick on top of your shoebox. You also need to pay a minium of £3 donation for the postage of the shoebox and if you pay online (like I did), then you will be emailed in the New Year to tell you which country your shoebox was sent to :)

 I wanted to send my box to a little girl and picked the 5-9 years age category. I can't fit anything else into my shoebox so I'm ready to take it to my local Shoe Zone store, which is the closest drop off point to me. There are several gift suggestions on the Samaritan's Purse website and also information of what you are not allowed to put into the shoeboxes. Here's what I've added to my shoebox...

Remember, if my post has inspired you to fill your own shoebox for Operation Christmas Child you only have until 18th November to hand your box in. I hope you all enjoyed this post!
 
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Who else is or has filled a Christmas shoebox before? Is anyone doing anything else for other charity this Christmas?