Operation Christmas Child

National collection week for Operation Christmas Child is next week, November 16–23. Visit the Samaritan’s Purse web site to learn more about Operation Christmas Child, find out how to pack a shoe box, and locate your nearest local collection site. If you make your donation online instead of enclosing a check in your shoe box, you can track your shoe box to its destination country!

In the video below, Mummy Deals shares 10 tips for packing a shoebox frugally for Operation Christmas Child. By shopping for items throughout the year and taking advantage of sales, freebies, and rebates, she was able to pack 45 shoe boxes for $45 this year! You won’t be able to take advantage of some of the tips if you’re still packing this year’s box, but she gives some great ideas for making your dollar stretch further, allowing you to pack boxes for more children.

Karen at 33 for a Moment also offers helpful tips in her post Operation Christmas Child: Shoe Boxes on a Shoestring.

Boxes for Katje is a lovely children’s book that would be great to read and talk about with your kids while you’re working on a shoe box. I shared other ideas for teaching children about poverty and compassion in my post Teaching Kids About Poverty.