Operation Christmas Child
A few days ago I stumbled over something I had forgotten for many years – „Operation Christmas Child“.
You don’t know what this is about? Well, summed up this is a charity project where people from richer countries pack Christmas presents for children who live in the poor areas of our world.
When I was in school we participated as a whole class and everybody packed a present for a child which wasn’t as lucky as ourselves and probably never even got any Christmas present.
This got me thinking.
If a class of children was capable of making many kids smile, the incredible community of steemit.com should be able to do at least the same.
This is why I want to share this project with you guys and challenge you to take part. All you need is a good will to make somebody else happy, an empty shoebox (Fun fact: In German, the project is called “Weihnachten im Schuhkarton” which means “Christmas in a shoe box”) and something you want to give away.
I am one of those people who often is critical about some of the charity organizations because the often get accused of misusing the money. This is something great about this project – The chance of misusing is very low with Christmas presents.
Here are some thoughts and pictures of my present.
At first you have to decide who you make your present for. You can choose between the two genders and three different age groups of kids (2-4, 5-9, 10-14).
I don’t like to choose between the genders and therefore will pack it with gender-neutral items. However, I choose the age group of 5-9 – just because.
Now we come to the hardest part: What shall I pack into the shoebox? Before choosing actual items I made up a list of criteria for my items:
- Suitable for both boys as well as girls
- No association with violence
- Shareable with other kids
- Encouraging creativity
- Durable
After making up this list, I went into a super market and looked around what items fit my criteria.
This is what I got:
A set of “LEGO Classic”
A writing Set (Two pencils, a sharpener and an eraser)
A set of twelve colored Pencils
Three Notebooks (blank, lined, squared)
A ruler
Since I choose eco-friendly products, all of the products together cost me around 23€. Back at home, it come to my mind that a little sports ball would also fit perfect. I sure will be able get one for a few bucks. What do you think of my items?
After I have finished packing I only have to choose from one of the many drop-off locations in my city.
How you can join as well:
Hopefully some of you are now thinking about joining for themselves. Let me show you how to in three easy steps:
Visit the homepage of Operation Christmas Child – English or Weihnachten im Schuhkarton to print out a label.
Pack you present. Note: Not everything is allowed in the presents. Please follow the above links for more information.
Bring your box to a Drop-Off location.
If you would like to take part in this amazing project but cannot pack a box yourself for whatever reason – I offer to pack and send a box like the one above for you.
Simply send 30 SBD and I will do the rest for you. Like I said the items are about 23€, an additional 8€ is necessary for shipping. This of course adds up to 31€ and therefore is a few SBDs above 30 SBD. However, to show my appreciation of your generosity I will cover the remaining part.
You can of course send a smaller amount as well and I will add it up with the amount of others. Just send any amount with the memo "Operation Christmas Child".
Of course, I can provide proof in the form of bills and pictures of me packing the box (or hopefully boxes).
Here is the bill of the purchase above (-1.59€ since I bought one notebook for myself):
Let’s do this together and bring smiles to the faces of many children!
Together we are way stronger and can bring smiles to the faces of many children who weren't as lucky as us. Many on this platform have mad nice profit on STEEM and !
I really hope that some of you guys will pack your own box or help me to pack more. Remember that now everybody had the luck to be born into a society which can take care of them. And maybe it also is a beautiful Christmas present for your own soul if you help others.
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to post them. Of course, I would also love to see pictures of you guys packing your own box.
Thank you for reading this post and bye,
Martin
P.S.: Needless to say that the winnings of this post will be used for presents as well! Therefore you can also do some good just by upvoting and/or resteeming!
Great initiative!
Thanks a lot for posting!
Thank YOU for your support :)
thank you for this great action! i suggest balloons also in the packs :) they are really inexpensive and all the children love them, regardless age. :)
i will do my sharing part from over here.
bravo bravo :)
Balloons are a great idea, I will get some for sure! Thank you!
What a great thing my friend :)
Of course, I am in and 100% Upvote.
Awesome :) Thank you very much!
Thats the right pre X mas spirit! Nice initiative!
It sure is - Sharing is Caring :)
great post! its such a good cause :D
It sure is :) Whats more beautiful than a kids smile?
Good idea, we should share our happiness with others....
We sure should :)
with christmas around the corner this would be a great challenge for a good cause , i know what it means not to have a gift during chrismas as other children would be opening theirs, great initiative @theaustrianguy
Thank you for your supporting words - Hopefully we can lower the amount of kids who won't receive a present!
Wonderful job
Good idea it's good to see smiles in the faces of kids
It sure is :)
It's amazing in front of the community especially to share the green that is amazing.
Super Idee! Ich werde gleich versuchen noch ein paar meiner Freunde dazu zu überreden :)
Sehr gute Idee - In Wien solltest es auch mehr als genug Annahmestellen geben :)
Vllt. kannst du ja hier auf Steemit auch helfen und den Post resteemen? Hast ja auch schon einige treue Fans :)
Its a great program that is very well run!
It is :)
This is a brilliant motive and a wonderful way to make kids happy
Appreciating act and this is the only thing that make you relax
img credz: pixabay.com
Nice, you got a 7.0% @minnowbooster upgoat, thanks to @theaustrianguy
Want a boost? Minnowbooster's got your back!
great thank for sharing my friend
This post has received a 30.30 % upvote from @buildawhale thanks to: @theaustrianguy. Send at least 0.50 SBD to @buildawhale with a post link in the memo field for a portion of the next vote.
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This wonderful post has received a bellyrub 15.38 % upvote from @bellyrub thanks to this cool cat: @theaustrianguy. My pops @zeartul is one of your top steemit witness, if you like my bellyrubs please go vote for him, if you love what he is doing vote for this comment as well.
Thank you very much for this one.
You are a great man, with your challenges you will help a lot of people :)
All the respect for you!
Thank you :)