Gifts for third world countries
For some it might be too early to think about Christmas, but not those wanting to help children in third world countries enjoy the holiday.
It’s all part of Operation Christmas Child (OCC), an initiative started in the community by Cambridge High School returning for its second year.
The project is easy to get involved with. It requires people to fill shoeboxes with things that children from third world countries would not normally have he luxury to own.
The organisation behind it, Samaritan’s Purse, suggest filling it with something to wear, something to love, something special, something for school, something to play with and something for personal hygiene.
Items that leak, are damaged, breakable, harmful or religious, racial or political are not allowed.
Last year Cambridge High School filled 75 boxes alone, but the Cambridge community and other schools became involved and more than 100 boxes were sent.
Cambridge High School year 10 student Charlotte Mitchell was part of the initiative last year and wants to be involved again.
Already 185 boxes have been taken from the school to fill, she said.
‘‘We are physically making a difference. The charities people send money to are great at delivering fresh water and building facilities, but to physically give a gift they can keep is something else,’’ she said.
The boxes are delivered around Christmas time and people can watch videos of the children opening boxes.
‘‘There are so many stories of kids growing up and being empowered to make a difference after receiving one of these boxes,’’ she said.
Cambridge High School’s Heidi Lewis is the teacher in charge again this year. She said schools were uniting to create awareness of global poverty.
The boxes are due at the end of October, after which the students will travel to a warehouse in Auckland to process the boxes for Customs.
‘‘For OCC you have to make the sacrifice of time and effort to actually pack the box, and we have found that once individuals do this they realise the true joy of giving,’’ Lewis said.
The boxes are available to collect from Cambridge High School and come with pamphlets explaining the process.