Operation Christmas Child

Each year FCS is involved with the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child project in multiple ways. School families and students are encouraged to pack gift shoe boxes with small toys and hygiene items which will be shipped overseas and distributed to needy children in poverty-stricken countries around the world. Also, two of our buildings serve as collection centers for the shoe boxes: the Stafford Campus is a relay center receiving boxes from churches and individuals in North Stafford, and the high school is the central collection center for the entire Fredericksburg area. About 1,250 boxes were collected from FCS, and over 10,000 boxes total were collected for shipment to Charlotte, North Carolina. All the shoe boxes were then shipped in two trucks to the processing center in Charlotte.

For the 10^th year, a group of 42 students (mostly juniors and seniors) and 9 adults (teachers and parents) spent a day and a half in Charlotte helping to process thousands of boxes in preparation for shipping to diffe

rent countries. They inspected each box, added a few extra goodies, taped the boxes shut and loaded them in larger cardboard boxes so they could be shipped to their destination countries. The boxes that our group worked on this year were going to the Dominican Rep

ublic.

These boxes bring not only joy and excitement to the children, but they also give the Christian organizations in these countries the opportunity for an outreach event in their communities where they can share the gospel.

“The purpose of Samaritan’s Purse is to collect gifts from around the country and be able to ship them to children overseas who live in poverty who have never had a real Christmas gift before. What we do is go down and help them with the sorting process… We just do whatever they need done and have a good time serving the Lord!” stated one student.

Over three million boxes were packed and shipped this year, and many students are already looking forward to next year’s opportunity for involvement in this ministry.