What does Christmas look like in other countries? Well in Mexico, children can’t wait to get in bed on Noche Buena, so their presents can arrive faster. In France, children wait for Père Noël. In Greece, children sing carols on Christmas Eve. Not all children, however, are blessed with such excitement and joy on Christmas.

  Luckily, there are many organizations that help make Christmas memorable for these children. One of these is Operation Christmas Child (OCC). The OCC was started in 1990 by Dave and Jill Cooke. Their mission, according to the OCC website, was to “demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to needy children around the world.”

  The OCC was able to complete their mission with simple shoeboxes. Not the boxes themselves, but the content inside is what makes the children’s eyes light up. The shoeboxes are filled with toys and goodies for the children to receive as their Christmas presents.

  Operation Christmas Child boxes go all over the world. They go to many famine, poverty, or war struck countries. Some even stay in the US and are sent to the Native American Reserves.

  For the past three years the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) has accepted donations from Urbana students. Last year, Urbana High School donated 60 boxes to OCC, and the previous year they collected 90 boxes. Ms. Blickenstaff, advisor of the FCA, said, “Our goal is to beat last year’s goal.” The only way this can be done is through giving students at Urbana High School.

  The FCA is currently accepting boxes up until November 17th. Boxes can be found at the tables up front in the cafeteria or in Ms. Blickenstaff’s room (B117). Papers on the items that go inside the boxes and more information on the boxes can also be found in Ms. Blickenstaff’s room. This year, donate a shoebox and put a smile on a child’s face this Christmas.

For more information on OCC, go to:

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/