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'Round the world in a shoebox
Operation Christmas Child collection week starts Nov. 16
Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by EMILY BARNES
Jill Hancock, right, the Operation Christmas Child relay center coordinator at First Baptist Church of La Plata, helps daughters Jordan, 10, left, and Caitlyn, 4, pack a shoebox. Son Nathan, 13, works on the other side of the table.
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With seven kids between 13 and 1, Patrick and Jill Hancock of Bryantown have a built-in team of helpers when it comes to the project at hand.
Nathan, 13, Courtney, 12, Jordan, 10, Noah, 8, Callie, 6, Caitlyn, 4, and Erin, 1, spent a recent afternoon sifting through donations collected at First Baptist Church of La Plata for Operation Christmas Child.
School supplies bought on clearance after the back-to-school crush, chocolate cherry-scented lip glosses, stuffed animals, hair clips, baseballs and other items were strewn on a table waiting to be plucked up by little hands, packed into shoeboxes and sent on an international journey.
A project of the international Christian relief program, Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child asks churches to fill shoeboxes with items — anything from a toothbrush to hair clips, small toy cars to socks — to be delivered to kids in more than 100 countries that have been torn apart by war, disease, famine and poverty.
The recent assembly of the gifts is just one of the "packing parties" Jill Hancock has organized. Throughout the year, church members donated small gifts to fill the shoeboxes.
While activities get the word out about the ministry — including a viewing party of "Veggie Tales: St. Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving," which features a character packing up a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child; the movie prompted the young viewers to attack the project with vigor.
"I thought we'd do just two or three," boxes, Hancock said. "We ended up doing 20 or 30 boxes."
The Hancock kids have been involved in the annual project since the oldest, Nathan, can remember — probably about eight years, according to Jill Hancock, who home-schools the children. This year is the first that the church Hancock has been a member of since birth is a collection site.
Filled shoeboxes will be collected at six churches in the tri-county area — in addition to the La Plata church, Southern Calvert Baptist Church in Lusby, Lexington Park Baptist Church, Hughesville Baptist Church, Indian Head Baptist Church and Waldorf First Baptist Church are relay sites.
Last year, 3,747 boxes were collected, said Melissa Weikel, who coordinates collections at Waldorf First Baptist Church.
About 8 million boxes — from the U.S. and other countries — will be collected overall.
Each year, destinations vary — the Philippines, torn apart by floods, the slums of India, of Bogota.
It is Weikel who brought the program to the area.
After learning of it during a Chick-fil-A conference (she and her husband, Ken, own the Waldorf restaurants), Weikel, the mother of five, saw its potential.
"There's that kids-to-kids connection," she said, adding that the ability to "track" the boxes as they arrive overseas is appealing to children who assembled the gifts.
It appeals to the Hancock children whose gifts last year reached Zimbabwe. Hancock said she wanted her church to be a collection center after hearing stories about a gift's reach.
"I was hearing stories of how it affected people's lives," she said. "Kids who have serious burns on their feet got a box full of socks. A child who has to carry buckets of water received gloves."
"Even 14-year-old boys pick up a teddy bear and hug it because they never had one before," Nathan chimed in.
"It doesn't seem like much to us … pens and pencils … but it means so much for someone who has never had a gift," Hancock said.
"And it's fun," piped up Noah, who along with his sisters likes putting together the gifts, going through the donations of small toys, school supplies and other items.
Nathan, who isn't too old or cool to put together packages, has found himself helping his younger siblings.
"He's our muscle," Hancock said, explaining that Nathan is usually enlisted in moving packed boxes out of the way.
Cindy Preston, the church administrator at Hughesville Baptist, said she set out about 240 boxes for the congregation to pick up for the program. A youth group at the church packed up some gifts; others are still out and will be dropped off next week.
Weikel thinks that the area will produce more than 3,000 boxes for Operation Christmas Child, as it has since 2004.
"For us it's a ministry," Weikel said. "And it brings a higher awareness for our kids. A lot of preschools, Girl Scout troops [pack boxes]. It's a nice family thing … that was one of the things that drew me to it … it's something we can do as a family and it's a ministry that directly affects kids."
Courtney Hancock summed up the project.
"It's to help all the people around the world," the 12-year-old said. "It's what God wants us to do."
Local collection sites
Shoeboxes will be collected at four area churches Nov. 16-23.
Waldorf Baptist Church at 10045 Bunker Hill Road will take boxes 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Nov. 16 and 17; 4-8 p.m. Nov. 18; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Nov. 19; 4-8 p.m. Nov. 20; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 21; 1-5 p.m. Nov. 22; and 10 a.m.-2 p .m. Nov. 23.
First Baptist Church of La Plata at 9070 Hawthorne Road will collect boxes 5-7 p.m. Nov. 16; 4-6 p.m. Nov. 17; 1-3 p.m. Nov. 18; 6-8 p.m. Nov. 19; 9-11 a.m. Nov. 20-21; and 3-5 p.m. Nov. 22.
Hughesville Baptist Church at 8505 Old Leonardtown Road will collect boxes 10 a.m.-noon Nov. 16-17; 6-8 p.m. Nov. 18; 10 a.m.-noon Nov. 19-21; and noon-2 p.m. Nov. 22.
Indian Head Baptist Church at 27 Raymond Ave. will collect boxes 6-8 p.m. Nov. 16; 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Nov. 17; 6-8 p.m. Nov. 18-20; and noon-2 p.m. Nov. 21-22.
For gift suggestions and more information, go to www.samaritanspurse.org or call 800-479-4682. A donation of $7 per box is suggested to cover shipping costs.
