Posted on: Saturday, November 6, 2004
Kids fill shoeboxes with goodwill
Advertiser Staff
Today, a group of friends are getting together in 'Aina Haina to fill shoeboxes with toiletries, gifts, school supplies and toys for a global project, Operation Christmas Child, part of the non-denominational Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief organization.
Photos by Rebecca Woodland • Special to The Advertiser The goal this year is to do better than that. If Rebecca Woodlawn has her way, they'll fill a 40-foot Matson container with about 4,000 and need a second one to make up shoeboxes for the projected 7 million needy children in more than 100 countries.
Woodlawn, a part-time cookbook author, relaunches the project knowing time is tight for Hawai'i families today.
"You have time to do whatever it is you really are passionate about," she said.
"The kids really get into it," said Colleen Nakama, school secretary and a parent herself. "One boy said, 'Mom, my shoebox is too small' " for all the things he wanted to put in.
They attached labels (which can be downloaded from the Web), and taped them to the box lids. Lids must be wrapped separately, because boxes are opened for customs inspection.
More than 170 shoeboxes had the hand of Holy Trinity participants upon them.
Throughout Hawai'i, churches, public schools and even yoga and exercise classes get involved, too, says Woodlawn, who knows it's worth all the trouble when she reads the letters sent to her from a fifth-grade girl in Bosnia, one of the first recipients of her boxes who shared the school supplies with many of her friends.
"You see how one gift can transform people's life," she said. "It's the gift that kept on giving."
The project gathered nearly 3,900 shoeboxes from Hawai'i last year.
First-graders in Briarlyn Maharaj's class at St. Anthony School in Kalihi last year were among the many children in Hawai'i who filled 3,900 shoeboxes with gifts to help needy children.
Last year, everyone — students, teachers and staffers — at Holy Trinity Catholic school in Kuli'ou'ou participated. They picked what kind of shoebox to fill (for a boy or girl) and what age, divided into categories (2 to 4, 5 to 9 or 10 to 14). Items included age-appropriate gifts, toys, school supplies, hygiene items, T-shirts, socks and candy.
Each child who participated in last year's "Operation Christmas Child" was allowed to fill a shoebox with items of their choice.
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| Aloha Shoebox Project
• Shoeboxes are filled with toys, school supplies, toiletries and gifts, etc. • Completed shoeboxes can be dropped off at Nu'uanu Congregational Church, 2651 Pali Highway, Nov. 15-21. • Information: Call (800) 470-5581 or 295-3027, or www.samaritanspurse.org • Note: Participants are asked to submit a $5 check inside the shoebox, payable to Samaritan's Purse, to help with shipping costs. |
