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Saskatoon’s public schools will no longer participate in a holiday shoebox campaign led by the Samaritan’s Purse charity.

In November, the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District decided to stop participating in Operation Christmas Child — which delivers shoeboxes packed with gifts to children in need — after hearing concerns about Samaritan’s Purse’s lack of LGBTQ acceptance and its rejection of gay marriage.

A statement of faith signed by “connect volunteers,” who represent the charity year-round, states: “we believe that marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female.”

The Newfoundland district’s interim superintendent, Tony Stack, said that doesn’t fit the district’s philosophy of inclusion.

In an email, Saskatoon public division spokeswoman Veronica Baker said after hearing from the “vast majority” of schools, only one participated in Operation Christmas Child this year. The focus of the project, undertaken by the school’s Kindergarten classes, was connecting students to the community, she said, noting “attention was not placed on Samaritan’s Purse” nor were its learning resources used in the classroom.

“Nonetheless, this organization does not fully align with our school division’s values and we will not be supporting this charitable campaign in the future,” Baker wrote.

Derrick Kunz, spokesman for Saskatoon’s Catholic division, said in an email that the division is not aware of any classes participating in the campaign.

While there have been no discussions about future participation, it could become a “discussion item,” Kunz wrote.

Samaritan’s Purse spokesman Frank King said the organization doesn’t plan to revisit the statement because it’s based on Biblical principles and “Biblical principles don’t change.”

When asked if the charity is concerned about people not participating in the campaign, he said, “We’re following Biblical principles and we understand sometimes there’s a cost to be paid for following Biblical principles.”

King said the organization supports people of all races, faiths and economic standings, as its members believe God loves all people, including people in the LGBTQ community.

He said volunteers are asked to sign the statement of faith to avoid awkward situations, because if they don’t agree with the statement, “how can they accurately represent the organization?”

The charity’s statement of faith is “really disappointing,” said Rachel Loewen Walker, executive director of local LGBTQ advocacy group OUTSaskatoon.

“As citizens that do want to give back, we do have an ethical responsibility to know where our money is going,” she said.

“I do think it’s important that the organizations that we give money to have the best interest of the whole community in mind.”

OUTSaskatoon has not heard any concerns about the campaign from the local LGBTQ community, Loewen Walker noted, but added it’s important for people to do research before deciding which organizations to support.

“Being a donor is like being a consumer — sometimes the donors themselves have to do that homework.”