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What joy today to speak with Randy Riddle, national director of Operation Christmas Child today on Tammy Radio about their terrific project which gets your shoeboxes filled with gifts to kids all around the world. Our discussion is a public podcast which I hope you will enjoy. OCC is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, the international relief organization headed up by Franklin Graham. I encourage all readers and listeners to participate in OCC if you can.
In addition to the podcast, take a look at their OCC video with all the details on how you can make a difference 🙂
If Ms.Bruce vouches for this Organization, then I’m in…
Their website is very detailed, with alot of background information. And if you’re not the ‘shoebox-type’, there’s plenty of specific, targeted projects, here in America and worldwide that will satisfy the need to ‘give a little back’.
Thanks Tammy for having them on the show today! Double Cat Thumbs Up!
posted 11/7 605pm Texan [And It’s Tax-Deductable!… 🙂 ] Time.
What an uplifting interview! With ALL the junk we hear from the LSM….this caused me to remember what IT is really ALL about!
God Bless the Graham family and HAPPY BIRTHDAY Billy Graham….93yrs young today!!!
My sentiments exactly. Tammy hit it out of the park with this interview.
Ditto everything Kat said! Thanks for the breath of fresh air Tammy! we need more of it.
I cannot thank you enough for bringing this program to our attention, Tammy. My son and I went shopping for our shoebox today. We were at Walmart, and they had these adorable Christmas boxes that were just the right size — we picked one with Santa on it.
My son will be five in January, so I decided to pack the shoebox for a 5-7 year old boy. He’s getting Hot Wheels, a yo-yo, a harmonica, a squishy ball that lights up, candy canes, and lollipops. But my mommy instinct also kicked in, which means he’s getting two toothbrushes (they flash for sixty seconds when you push the bottoms, to let you know how long to brush your teeth – my son loves his), toothpaste, soap, a washcloth, a notebook, crayons, pencils, pens, erasers, a drawing pad, a ruler, safety scissors, glue sticks, a pencil sharpener, a little solar calculator, and a flashlight with extra bulbs and batteries. That box is absolutely stuffed, and I’m so excited to finish it up and drop it off.
When I was seven, my dad got hurt really badly while on the job. He had slipped and fallen flat on his back, pulverizing two discs in his lower back in the process. That was a hard time on my family in a lot of ways, but I will never forget how, around Christmastime, a box mysteriously appeared on our doorstep, and it was full of presents for us kids, including a big white teddy bear for me. I still smile thinking about it. So the way I see it is that Operation Christmas Child is a way of passing that smile on to kids who especially need it. My son had fun helping with the box, too, and I’m telling everyone I know about the program.
The kids and I do Operation Christmas Child every year and love it (they just joined me the last few years, but I have been doing it for a long time). This is a fantastic organization, and I am picky and jaded about charities. They need a lot of volunteers year around to organize this effort, so check with local churches that are affiliated with OCC if you are interested in doing more for the organization.
TIP FOR OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD!! Money gets tight around the holiday, so about five years ago, I decided to hit the $1 rack at Target every time I went there to pick up a few things here and there throughout the year. By November, I can fill at least a dozen boxes. I also get the toys from fast food places and through that in my Operation Christmas Child box throughout the year.
I assembled our boxes this afternoon and will post pics on Twitter with our OCC boxes this week. 🙂
First picture posted on Twitter. I have changed my Twitter handle to SmartGirlJen. The kids and I will be assembling our boxes this afternoon.
OCC also suggests if you cannot, for whatever reason do a box (time or financial constraints, for example), you can contribute $5, which pays to ship a box overseas. Almost everyone can do that!
You can also “like” OCC on Facebook and help spread the message. (just search for Operation Christmas Child on Facebook). See their sidebar for opportunities to volunteer further – they need helpers YEAR ROUND! Check their “find a drop-off locator” (enter zip, etc.). There’s a drop-off site w/in 5 mi. of me 🙂
We also use Samaritan Purse’s “gift catalog” to select “in honor of” Christmas gifts for relatives “who have everything.” A blanket costs $6; $15 is a month’s tuition for school; $25 buys a winter coat or outfit w/ shoes. There are many more, some quite large if you have the means and interest in giving here.
G-d Bless you all!
Thanks Tammy for promoting OCC! This is a Christmas tradition in my family as well as my church.
Samaritan’s Purse is a great organization. They do a lot of relief work here in the USA as well as globally.
They have been working in Sudan for years and I have received an urgent appeal email just recently that said
I recently visited a makeshift refugee camp in South Sudan where Samaritan’s Purse is providing life-saving aid to more than 22,000 people. My heart was broken as I met and prayed with these suffering people. They have fled from the Nuba Mountains in Sudan, where they are the victims of brutal persecution. Hundreds pour into the camp daily, mostly women, children, and the elderly who crossed the border to escape the terrible atrocities taking place in their homeland. They have nothing when they arrive.
Samaritan’s Purse has been airlifting tons of food and other supplies to the refugees, who are stranded in a remote swampy area accessible only by plane because the rainy season washed out roads in the area.
Supplies are running out. We are trying to help the people, to save their lives. But we are at the point now where we’re not going to be able to sustain this without others stepping up and helping. These people need your help, and your prayers. We can’t take a day off. Every day, we face overwhelming and urgent needs.
Thank you, and may God bless you.