S/O Operation Christmas Child: other choices?

[Innisfree]

I understand the hesitation to send boxes through this particular organization, though I also think they do a great deal of good. I noticed their prominent involvement with Ebola treatment, for example. Certainly they are a missionary group, and acting on that is perfectly consistent with their goals. But I completely get the hesitation and ick factor.

 

Does anyone know of another group doing the same sort of thing?

 

I know Heifer International, and there are all sorts of other good charities. But is there anything comparable to OCC, with the personal element of packing a box for an individual child?

 

Last year my kids loved packing a box, and they've looked forward to packing another this year. For the moment I've decided the good outweighs my mixed feelings. I'm not even sure which side of a debate about the organization I'd land on, and I absolutely do not want to start that debate. But I'm curious about alternatives.

[Ameena]

Bumping - we aren't doing one, but love the concept. If I could find a less missionary type group doing it I'd be all over it.

 

 

I don't know if it's in every area, but when I was a kid the county ag office that ran 4-H did a Christmas event every year for families living in the colonias nearby. We did stockings, gifts, and a hot meal for each family, and you were able to pick from a list of children.

[Jenny in Florida]

It's not packing a box, but in our area the grocery story chain Publix puts up wish trees with tags for kids who are associated with a local organization. Usually, it's for kids in some kind of residential facility, but the specific organization varies a bit from year to year. The tags give the child's name and age and a wish list. Donors buy gifts and drop them off at the local store. Publix employees deliver the gifts, meaning no one is on the hook for international shipping costs. My family gives gifts through that program each year.

 

 

[mom2scouts]

FYI, Heifer International is also an evangelical Christian organization and it's not too hard to find negative articles about it either. There are groups that say that Heifer gives animals to people who don't have the ability to properly graze them, feed them, or care for them in such a way that makes them valuable for a family and the animals are often lost to abuse and starvation.  It's really hard to find good charities that don't cause unintended negative consequences.  :(

[Starr]

We have a local organization where one can buy a present for a particular age. Our family also enjoys wrapping nights for this group. 

 

[Dmmetler]

Two other suggestions:

 

Ronald McDonald House/Target House-I know both here collect gifts for siblings of kids who are at LeBonheur or St. Jude's hospital-because the kids IN the hospital get a lot of donations and support at the holidays, but siblings often get left out. These places often also need stocks of school supplies and other basics because often these kids come up to the hospital with a sibling with a few clothes in a suitcase and the parent didn't even think about the siblings needing to attend school.

 

Schools in impoverished areas. Often they have kids who have needs and they'll know who could really benefit from something like that.

 

In both cases, Backpacks/school bags make good containers. I buy those when Target goes to 75% off after the back to school season is over, and stock up on school supplies to pack them with. I include both the plain ones that I know schools prefer and the cute, pretty, sparkly, popular character ones. I also include small toys-things like the little lego sets that aren't holiday specific, but often appear in the stocking stuffers section, balls, puzzles, playdough, and stuff like that. DD enjoys picking out and stuffing items designed for a specific age/grade (so a backpack for a 5 yr old would have playdough, simple puzzles, some of the primary writing tablets, construction paper, safety scissors, glue sticks, good pencils, crayons, and stuff like that, but one for an older child might have a harder puzzle, a sports bottle, a couple of packs of notebook paper, a couple of spiral notebooks, a neat set of fun erasers, pencils, crayons, glue, etc).

 

We also stock up on school uniform pieces when Target clearances them and donate them to schools and to the adoption drop offs. Our local school district has a khaki/Navy bottoms, white/red polo shirt top dress code, and while the schools usually have enough donated at the start of the year that they can outfit the kids who are from families that financially struggle with a couple of pairs of pants and a couple of polos in the fall, by December, it's really obvious which kids ONLY have those couple of donated items and are washing them in the sink at night.  For a teacher or guidance counselor to be able to give a child a nicely wrapped Christmas gift to take home that just happens to contain a couple of nice, clean shirts and pants that don't have a hole or aren't too short because the child has had a growth spurt really can make a difference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jenny in Florida]

I just wanted to thank you all for reminding me to start thinking about our holiday giving. Every year, I get caught up in the crazy and don't take the time to plan ahead and research organizations and their needs. Thanks to this thread, I'm firing up my Google fingers and making some notes so I can give thoughtfully this year.

 

 

[hornblower]

If you're in the UK, there are a couple other organizations that do the box thing  - Aquabox & Link to Hope (that one is Christian but not evangelical from what I gather).

there are links to them & more alternatives listed here:

https://humanism.org.uk/humanism/humanism-today/humanists-doing/good-causes-and-charities/samaritans-purse/