Shoebox charity leaves mark worldwide

Samaritan’s Purse will collect school supplies, hygiene items and toys for their Operation Christmas Child project until Monday. The donations are packed into containers the size of a shoebox and delivered to needy children in other countries. Above is a group of children opening such boxes in the Phillipines.
Samaritan’s Purse will collect school supplies, hygiene items and toys for their Operation Christmas Child project until Monday. The donations are packed into containers the size of a shoebox and delivered to needy children in other countries. Above is a group of children opening such boxes in the Phillipines.

In addition to the much-needed school supplies, hygiene items and toys that are packed in shoeboxes and delivered to children around the world, another important part of the project takes the form of prayers for the child receiving the box, said Mamie Cuzzort, a member of the media team for Samaritan’s Purse in Independence County and its project Operation Christmas Child.

During National Collection Week, which ends Monday, organizers for the Independence County project hope to contribute more than 2,500 gift-filled shoeboxes to the 2015 global goal of reaching 11 million children in need. The shoeboxes are shipped all over the world, often to remote areas, sometimes delivered by canoe, elephant or donkey, Cuzzort said.

Independence County is part of an eight-county Samaritan’s Purse collection area: White, Cleburne, Lonoke, Prairie, Woodruff, Monroe and Jackson counties.

“The heart of Arkansas loves to give, and this area really has a heart. They want to take part,” said Barbara Childs of Searcy, prayer coordinator for the area. She and her husband, David, who have been involved with the project since 1999, are part of a prayer team that prays and fasts every Tuesday year-round on this project, along with other volunteers who also work year-round to fulfill the project’s mission. Debbie Lewis in Searcy is the area coordinator for the efforts.

The most-needed items in the boxes include hygiene items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap (in a zip-close bag), washcloths and combs, as well as school supplies such as pencils, pens, crayons, notebooks and coloring books.

Childs said she buys bubblegum-flavored toothpaste because the children do not like the mint-flavored paste. Flashlights and extra batteries are other much-needed items.

Childs and her husband said they buy a tote and gather items year-round when they are on sale — such as $3 shoes and school supplies at the start of the school year when they are cheaper.

David Childs said his group puts a bag of hard candy in each box, and children especially like Dum Dums, Blow Pops and Tootsie Pops. Boxes often include a “wow gift,” such as a doll or a deflated soccer ball with a pump included.

Rubik’s Cubes are a favorite to include, but puzzles are not as popular, Cuzzort said.

The shoeboxes also contain a book, The Greatest Gift, in the recipient’s language, to bring the Gospel of Christ to the children. A photograph and letter to the child are included, too, Cuzzort said.

Shoeboxes are labeled for girls or boys, with age groups of 2-4, 5-9 and 10-14 years old suggested. The two age groups that need more shoeboxes prepared are boys ages 2-4 and 10-14, Barbara Childs said.

The following items are not allowed in the shoeboxes: damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures; food, other than hard candy; liquids or alcohol-containing products; aerosol cans; anything breakable; and medications or vitamins.

The shoeboxes from this area will be sent to Mexico this year, so items such as gloves, scarves and cold-weather supplies may not be needed.

However, Childs and Cuzzort told stories from children who get the boxes, and they said one year when the boxes went to Mexico, a boy received a pair of gloves. And it turned out he needed the gloves, for he had a job taking things from an oven, and the gloves protected his hands.

Another story was about a boy who belonged to a gang and said his sister has always wanted a dress. “It was her heart’s desire,” he wrote. When his sister got a dress in a shoebox, it persuaded him that yes, prayers are answered, and that he needed to change, so he got out of the gang, the two women said.

They said that in many of the boxes’ destinations, if a child has no pencil, he or she cannot go to school, so teachers often break one pencil into several parts for the children.

A young boy being raised by a single mother had no pencil or school supplies, but when he got his shoebox, there was a pencil and other supplies. This gave him such hope that he has gone on to become a well-known preacher in his area, the women said.

Cuzzort told of a woman in her church, the Believers Community Church of Batesville, who is a hairdresser. When hearing about the Samaritan’s Purse project, the woman pledged one week’s earnings to help defray shipping costs, and she contributed $1,080, Cuzzort said, which was more than the hairdresser’s usual weekly intake. It costs $7 to ship one shoebox, so the woman paid to ship 154 shoeboxes, Cuzzort said.

Christmas paper is used to wrap the boxes, and Childs said that in one African village where boxes were distributed, the children often kept the pretty wrapping paper to decorate their walls.

Cuzzort, who is a teacher at Southside Batesville’s Junior High School, said students are excited about giving and look forward to packing the shoeboxes. She has a nephew who had never participated in the project, but he filled a box with a red T-shirt (plain, nothing printed on it is preferred), a ball cap, a purple and yellow Nerf football, pencils and a sharpener, a solar-powered calculator and Tootsie Rolls. Cuzzort said her daughter also filled a box, using her own money for the items, to show support.

Batesville High School held its first Packing Party the night of Nov. 11 to bring the community together for a common cause, Cuzzort said. Also in Batesville, Lyon College has participated in the shoebox project, she said.

This is the fourth year that Independence County has been a collection site for the shoeboxes. Last year, the eight counties garnered 16,000 boxes, thus the 17,000-box challenge this year.

“Our God-sized goal is 19,000,” Cuzzort said. From Judsonia and Searcy, the boxes will go to Denver, a processing center, then on to Mexico.

About 200 churches take part in the project in this eight-county area. “It’s all about helping kids and helping them to know Christ,” Barbara Childs said.

There are eight drop-off sites for the shoeboxes, including the River Church at Judsonia and seven relays: the Calvary Baptist Relay Center in Batesville, the Fellowship Baptist Relay Center in Cabot, the First Freewill Baptist Church Relay Center in Cave City, the Gospel Mission Relay Center in Des Arc, the Westside Baptist Relay Center in Greers Ferry, the Baptist Church Relay Center in Jacksonport and the Friendship Freewill Baptist Church Relay Center in Rose Bud.

In Batesville, three businesses have also agreed to accept packed shoeboxes: Siloe, 181 S. Central Ave.; VanWinkles, 3417 Harrison St.; and Animal Medical Center, Dr. Matt Gunter, 50 Allen Chapel Road.

The photographs and letters that go into the shoeboxes really touch the children. Some hold a photo and call the men and women in them “mom” and “‘daddy,” adding that “Someone loves me, God loves me, someone remembers me,” Cuzzort said.

The letters may simply give information about the shoebox senders, including their location, such things as their favorite foods or descriptions of their homes, “letting them know how different things are here,” or one may write a note saying whatever is on their heart, Cuzzort said.

Cuzzort talked about what she writes in her letters to the children: “I let them know they are loved, that God laid it on my heart to send [the shoebox] and that I am praying for them,” she said.

To learn more about the project or to volunteer, call Cuzzort at (870) 834-7776 or Barbara Childs at (501) 593-2873, or call (870) 793-5480. With a computer or mobile device, anyone can conveniently pack a personalized shoebox gift on the Samaritan’s Purse website, samaritanspurse.org.

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