CARIBOU, Maine — Twenty-five National Honor Society students are helping out children in war-torn countries across the world by packaging Christmas boxes at the Caribou Baptist Church.
Operation Christmas Child, a project by the evangelical Samaritan’s Purse organization, provides less fortunate children with gifts ranging from toys, warm clothes, soap, writing materials, and more.
This year the Aroostook County effort is branching out to eastern Maine and including donations from as far away as Machias.
CHS student Emma Belyea said that this is something she has done before and was excited to participate again in 2016.
“My church does this as a congregation and I wanted to bring it to our school and community as well,” Belyea said.
“I found it really enjoyable to go out and buy all of these things and think about each kid opening their box with a smile on their face,” CHS student Ciara Richards said.
High-schooler Rachel Ring says the project “takes a little bit of work because we have to get the boxes and get the different toys for each one.”
According to CHS student Ashley Matlock, all students sign up to buy different items and then pack it all into boxes at the church.
“It makes you feel good knowing this will help someone else out and bring them happiness,” Matlock said.
NHS Adviser Ken Atcheson says the Caribou Baptist Church is “the central collection site for an area. They’re all boxed and then they will be sent to Charlotte, N.C.”
From North Carolina, the gifts are distributed across the world by Samaritan’s Purse.
Charlis Sullivan, collection coordinator for Aroostook County and Maine East, said the “boxes go to war-torn countries and to some of the darkest places on earth.”
Sullivan, an employee with the Van Buren school district, said a former shoebox recipient recently appeared at her church.
“He talked about receiving gifts at an orphanage,” said Sullivan. “These children, most of them have never received a gift in their lives. So this is a wonderful project to be a part of.”
According to Atcheson, once everyone purchases their materials, they are divided into sections and placed on a series of tables at the church. Each section is marked for age and gender, so gift boxes can be customized for young boys and girls.
Friday afternoon, Nov. 18 the Christmas Child truck left Caribou bound for Charlotte, North Carolina with roughly 3,000 shoe boxes.
