Operation Christmas Child 2014--How to do it

Operation Christmas Child is something I discovered about 5 years ago.  I was at my favorite place, Chick Fil A, on Election day, which my kids always happen to have as a school holiday.  It also happens to be National Pick up a box day at Chick Fil A, which means that you can pick up a box (or more) to be used to fill up for Operation Christmas Child (OCC).

OCC is a national campaign to provide boxes of small gifts, toys, candy, and health items for children in third world countries.   It is run, I think, by Samaritan's Purse.  You could look into it by googling it.  All I know is that on that first day, they said if I filled up a shoe box with toys and treats for a boy or girl,  and included a check for $7 to cover costs, that I would get a coupon for a free Chick Fil-A sandwich when I dropped off the box.   It seemed like a good thing for my children to learn about philanthropy (is it really philanthropy if the original goal was to get a free chicken sandwich?), so I got 5 pre-made OCC boxes.  They look like this:  

I can't tell you how helpful it is to get these pre-made boxes (and they also have pre-made labels to show if it is for a boy or girl, and a rubber band to "seal" it--how helpful is that).    I can easily fill a few boxes, but getting a shoe box is really hard for me because they get used for dioramas and other school projects.  

Honestly, Chick Fil A makes this whole thing so easy, which is another reason to love Chick Fil A.   You can get free boxes there on Election day, and then you have a week to drop them off, at any Chick Fil A (call to confirm first), and you get a free coupon for a sandwich.     Last year, I actually bought 100 boxes from the website, and my family and I put together 30 boxes, and gave away another 40 boxes for other people to make up/use.      I have to be honest, when my husband dropped off the boxes, they were out of coupons for free sandwiches, which was great, because the last thing I need is another excuse to go to Chick Fil A, and I'm not REALLY doing this for the free sandwiches.
So, what do I put in my boxes.   First, you need to know that they really appreciate what you do, and they have this amazing video on their website that made me cry, showing all these kids in villages opening up their boxes.  It was so nice.

Second, I try to make up mostly boy boxes.  It is easy for me, because I have three boys, so I tend to pick up things during the year that I see that I think may be needed/wanted by a boy somewhere.  This is again, where getting items on super clearance at Target is great...one year I got 40 little packages of Legos for .29 each, and they all went into these boxes.    I keep a bag in my dining room in a corner at all time that I fill up with stuff from my kids to put into these boxes.  I do buy things, but often I put in things that my older boys have outgrown, never played with, or didn't want.   I also put in it all those little toys that you get at birthday parties, or the dentist, or in goodie bags.   And as I said in my post about Target, I put all my kids non-chocolate candy into these bags....which within days go into boxes.   Here is a sample of the now 5 bags of stuff I am waiting to assemble with my three youngest next week:

This bag is full of stickers and toys from when we go to the dentist, or birthday parties.  I have 5 kids, they each go to the dentist twice a year, and my younger ones go to lots of birthday parties.   That makes up lots of junk I don't want.

This is a bag of old clothes, all of which still have the tags on them, that I will put in bags for younger boys (I try to concentrate on older boys...they always seem to get the least).

These were some Old Navy boxers I saw for really cheap.  Everyone needs new underwear.  I also got a whole bunch of those toothbrushes for free one time they were 1.00 each and I had a whole bunch of 1.00 coupons...I got 5-7 of them, and some kid will be happy.

Just another box of miscellaneous toys...from birthday party gift bags.

These were things I accumulated just this week---some unused candy necklaces from a Halloween party, a popcorn treat, and some stickers.    I might not use the Halloween stickers, but most other things would work great! 

So, I encourage you to stop by a Chick Fil A this Tuesday,  November 4th,  pick up several boxes, and see how creative you can be about filling them.  There is a list of suggestions, such as toiletry items (I like to give antiperspirant, soap, sanitary items, dental floss, toothpaste, toothbrushes), non-chocolate food items (they might melt in some regions), toys (nothing war-themed), and books, andschool supplies (I always put a pen and pencil in each box, with a small notebook...you can literally buy these for pennies in September after school sales are over.)    There is even a way to track where your box is going, which would be really cool!!!