While packing shoeboxes during the 2020 Operation Christmas Child campaign was a “little different” due to the pandemic, the numbers collected were still respectable, the Moose Jaw organizer says.
Moose Javians helped less fortunate children throughout the world have a joyous Christmas by packing 1,908 shoeboxes. This was part of the 20,760 boxes that Saskatchewan contributed to the campaign.
Canadians as a whole packed 373,188 shoeboxes — including tens of thousands packed online — with toys, hygiene items, school supplies and other useful and fun trinkets for kids in the developing world.
Worldwide, 11 countries packed 9,113,853 shoeboxes.
These numbers are down slightly compared to 2019 when Moose Jaw collected 2,849 boxes, Saskatchewan produced 25,591 boxes, Canadians contributed 490,471 shoeboxes and 11 countries across the world packed 10.5 million boxes.
Many residents had difficulty going shopping in-person due to the pandemic, so they filled more shoeboxes online at PackaBox.ca, said local organizer Mary Ellen Willis. While the numbers collected at Victory Church and the Moose Jaw Alliance Church was down compared to past years, the boxes received were still great.
“(They were) really, really full and bulging … ,” she continued. “I had to change the location for the packing party (due to spacing restrictions), but we did over 1,000 boxes. And new people who’d never done it before came and packed boxes. As far as I’m concerned, it was really, really good.”
Willis added that she made regular trips to the Dollar Tree to provide more boxes since customers were snapping them up there.
The numbers packed in Moose Jaw during the campaign are still something to celebrate even if there were fewer of them, Willis said. She hoped that residents picked up supplies earlier in the year since there was no certainty when the pandemic would end.
For example, she noted that she purchases small trinkets and school supply items whenever she goes shopping. Furthermore, she has seniors who make headbands during the year for the shoeboxes.
Participating in Operation Christmas Child is important since not only do children receive vital school supplies, it also lays the groundwork for children to follow Jesus Christ, Willis explained.
“Jesus said go out and make disciples and plant the seed. And that’s what these boxes do: they plant the seed … ,” she continued. “It also opens the door so they can take The Greatest Journey, and they’re introduced to Jesus then and (how) Jesus loves you. That’s what I find is the most important part.”
Receiving school supplies can also be life-changing, Willis remarked. She knows of a mother in Ecuador who rented a pencil for her child so he could go to school. When the child had no pencil, he couldn’t go to school.
It’s possible to pack shoeboxes year-round using the PackaBox.ca website. While the project is mainly promoted at Christmas, Willis pointed out that she has delivered shoeboxes to kids in Ecuador, Senegal and Costa Rica in the spring and fall.
“Operation Christmas Child is a very honest organization. There’s nothing hidden about it,” she said. “It’s a good one to support.”
Willis added that she greatly appreciated everyone who packed a box during the 2020 campaign.
Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 186 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 130 countries affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, disease and famine.
