“I’ve done shoeboxes since my kids were little – they’re now in their twenties. But I came to the warehouse one day and I looked and thought, this really is an operation – called Operation Christmas Child – and I’m volunteering and realising the magnitude of what can be done,” says Operation Christmas Child volunteer, Jo Lawrance.
In this Helping Hands documentary, we see Part 2 of our Operation Christmas Child story. Within the walls of the initiative’s western Sydney warehouse, we’ll meet the wonderful people who enable shoebox gifts to make the important transition from donor to distribution.
The driving force behind Samaritan's Purse, no matter where its teams work in the world, is to show love and care for humanity. Their activities around the world, including Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts, are an expression of their Christian faith. Although boxes contain important practical and functional items, they are not about alleviating poverty. They're about sending a gift of hope and making a connection between people here in Australia and other places in the world.
The western Sydney warehouse is just one of eight locations around the world collecting gifts to send to children, most of whom will have never received a Christmas gift.
“Samaritan’s Purse is a global organisation,” says Leanne Palmer, Operation Christmas Child National Manager. “There are about one hundred and twenty countries that receive the shoeboxes … For (the last) twelve months, in the countries that our shoeboxes will go to, they (Samaritan’s Purse workers) have been recruiting churches, people and teams that can actually receive these shoeboxes and give them to the child.”
The focus of work at the warehouse is to receive shoeboxes from generous donors and process them so that they are ready for shipping. High shelves around the outskirts of the warehouse are filling quickly and the centre of the warehouse floor is set up with ten pods at which up to one hundred volunteers inspect, adjust and scan each box.
Volunteers who are high-school age and above are welcome to join the sorting fun. Brenda Ringwaldt, who volunteers as a warehouse Process Leader, shares that people from all walks of life love to help. Boys, girls, parents, corporate groups and church groups all enjoy their time preparing gifts for children around the world, despite knowing they’ll never meet them in person.
Samaritan’s Purse does, however, offer shoebox donors the opportunity to follow the journey of each shoebox they donate from their own hands to the hands of a recipient for a small fee, which covers the cost of the process.
Warehouse volunteer, Paul Buckley, takes two weeks of leave from his day job every October to volunteer for Operation Christmas Child and today, shows Helping Hands the innovative barcode system which makes this possible.
“I just love the idea that we’re giving a present that we don’t have to give, but we just want to give (them) to these kids because we love them so much.”
To anyone who enters the warehouse as an Operation Christmas Child volunteer, the enormity of the overall project soon becomes evident. By individually giving their time to pack, sort and process shoeboxes, a shared feeling of worthwhile purpose and joy is experienced among participants.
“We can say that we want to make a difference in our world, and we can say that we care for kids in need,” says Leanne, “but when we say practical ‘hands on’ it’s actually about … doing something that says, ‘This is a box full of things that I’m so excited to be giving to you’.”
See the SAMARITAN’S PURSE – OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD Part 2 story and the full catalogue of Helping Hands documentaries at helpinghands.tv. Catch up on full episodes of Helping Hands on 9NOW.
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