Christmas Child: Little gifts result in big smiles

SNOHOMISH — Penny Kendrick said she’ll never forget the scene: Visiting orphanages in Kenya last year where the children had nothing to play with.

“They were playing with sticks, rocks and dirt,” she said. “They need to see how much God loves them.”

Kendrick’s commitment to helping kids in need began 21 years ago when she heard about Operation Christmas Child. It’s a program of the nonprofit Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse.

Volunteers fill shoeboxes with items that children around the world can most use: things like socks, a T-shirt or hat, toys and games. “School supplies, that’s really high on the list,” Kendrick said. “In a lot of foreign countries, they can’t attend school without school supplies.”

Last weekend, Kendrick organized a packing party at Christ the King Community Church to prepare the boxes for shipment around the world. By the end of the work session, 504 boxes had been packed.

Fellow church member Anita MacDicken was among those who helped. “Anything that will help these children that have nothing is really worthwhile,” she said. “It’s a simple thing, yet it’s important and sure brings out the smiles of those little kids.”

MacDicken said she was especially impressed by the children who turned out to help their parents at the packing party. “That was really a blessing to see those little kids filling boxes for other little kids,” she said.

Greg Ishmael, the church’s pastor, said at least 100 people turned out to help pack the boxes. Some weren’t church members, “but they still wanted to make a difference,” he said. Volunteers were having so much fun “we just couldn’t get them to leave.”

People love the idea of just taking everyday things people take for granted, like school supplies, a bar of soap, T-shirts, a yo-yo or toy “and how this blesses a child who has none of those things when they open it,” Ishmael said. Even though donors don’t know who will receive the box, they’re encouraged to write a note to a child “and they know someone cares about them somewhere,” he said.

His wife, Jean Ishmael, said the project was “getting us in the Christmas spirit early.” The boxes can be tracked online to the country they’re delivered to, she said. There was a lot of speculation at the packing party on where their boxes would ultimately go, she said. Some will likely be sent to Syrian refugees, she added.

The drive to fill the boxes for Operation Christmas Child continues. The church handed out 260 boxes at its services on Sunday. And the church, at 126 Cedar Ave., will serve as a collection spot from Nov. 17 to Nov. 24 for anyone who would like to donate.

The goal, Kendrick said, is to fill 1,000 boxes from the community. “We are three-quarters of the way there,” she said. “Think of all those kids who will be affected by this. God is so good.”

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com

Public donations to Operation Christmas Child can be delivered to Christ the King Community Church, 126 Cedar Ave. in Snohomish from Nov. 17 to Nov. 24. Instructions on what to put in the boxes are available online at Samaritian’s Purse. Call Penny Kendrick at 425-737-7867 for information.