CARSTAIRS – Students from Hugh Sutherland School and Carstairs Elementary School as well as Carstairs Playschool all stepped up and helped collect a total of over 320 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.
Diane Silcox, a teacher at Carstairs Elementary, has been involved with the program for a number of years and said it's a great way to get children involved in the spirit of giving.
“It was very successful this year,” she said. “We have a kickoff assembly and present the program and send the information home to families that want to participate. We send an empty box home with each child involved and the kids fill them with their families and return them to the school.”
On Nov. 23, the students gathered in the gym and assembled all the boxes to get ready to ship off to countries overseas.
“It's been a good response,” said Silcox. “One of the reasons I think it's so good is that it's something that a child can actually do. They can pack a box for another child as opposed to handing over money and not knowing what's happening with it. The child can actually select items and pack the boxes.”
Silcox said the teachers try to give the students a good idea of what happens to the boxes after they're handed in through photos of kids receiving boxes and impact stories of how important the boxes are to the kids receiving them.
“It also really builds the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of giving to people who have greater needs,” she said. “Building that world view is important as well. It's neat to show the kids where their boxes might end up.”
Silcox said the boxes are going to 15 different countries around the globe ranging from West Africa to South and Central America as well as the Ukraine.
