There are still two days to go until we reach the deadline for this year's Operation Christmas Child shoebox appeal.
On Monday 96 boxes were collected from the church, so that those at the depot can start processing boxes in order that they be in the hands of children before Christmas. This year boxes collected locally will be making their way to Mozambique. As with many of the countries where shoeboxes end up Mozambique's statistics on things like child mortality, life expectancy, average annual earnings, access to safe drinking water, literacy levels etc speak for themselves.
Today 64 more boxes arrived, with more due in over the next two days. 13 of those boxes came from the children at a local primary school, and these boxes were filled with pens, pencils, rulers, note books, crayons, maths sets...the sorts of things that you would need if you wanted to go to school. In Mozambique children are required to provide their own school materials if they want to attend school, something that many simply cannot afford to do. When these 13 boxes arrive at the depot they will be put to one side, and then whenever a box is checked which does not already contain these essential school items volunteers will add these things from the items provided by these local school children.
We live in a world where there is so much need, and at times it can seem overwhelming. But the truth is that we can each make a difference. And sometimes it is the little things that make a big difference.
