Sending aloha in a shoe box

Calden Kaeo and Kea Aiona from Kamahameha School's Keaau Campus do some back to school shopping.


Kids on the Big Island are learning something surprising about back-to-school shopping—it is not just a time to fill their book bags and closets, it is also a great opportunity to fill shoe boxes to help children in need around the world.

It may seem like an unusual addition to the annual back-to-school shopping spree, but through Operation Christmas Child families can make a real difference to a child in need by simply keeping the box from their new school shoes and filling it with small gifts. Operation Christmas Child plans to hand-deliver shoe box gifts to more than 8 million struggling children in 100 countries this year. An effort that massive means the project needs the help of Big Island families, not only during the holidays, but also right now.When Back-to-School shopping remember that just a pencil, and a notebook could mean a child in need can attend school this year. Such a small gift can make a big difference!.

Operation Christmas Child, a project of international relief and evangelism organization Samaritan's Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, encourages volunteers to fill simple shoe boxes with toys, necessity items, school supplies, candy and hand-written notes of encouragement. The gifts are then shared with children worldwide who are suffering because of natural disaster, disease, war, terrorism, famine and poverty. For many of these children, the shoe box gift will be the first gift they have ever received, letting them know they are loved and not forgotten.Why now—months before the holiday season?Operation Christmas Child is not limited to just a few weeks a year. It is a year-round project, requiring months of organization and preparation to reach millions of kids around the world.

Here on the Big Island keiki and adults have been working with our local team to send aloha to hurting children all over the world!

How can I help? It's Simple!

PREPARE—Help enlist families, churches, scout troops, community groups and businesses to take advantage of back-to-school sales by collecting discounted school supplies for shoe box gifts.

PACK—Fill shoe boxes with school supplies, toys, necessity items, hard candy and a letter of encouragement.

Step-by-step shoe box packing instructions are available at www.samaritanspurse.org.For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call Nell Quay (808)987-7373 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org. National Collection Week for gift-filled shoe boxes is Nov. 15-22; however, shoe box gifts are collected all year at the Samaritan's Purse headquarters in Boone, N.C.

Shoe Box Seeds!

Operation Christmas Child: Shoe Box Seeds from Joe Benson on Vimeo.

Through Operation Christmas Child, Samaritan’s Purse impacts kids and their families all over the world. For some of these children, the shoe box gift will be the first and only gift they will ever receive. Packed with simple items such as toothpaste, soap, toys, candy and school supplies, these gifts are a reminder that they are loved, and not forgotten.

Haiti...how can YOU help?

If you want to know how you can help through a trusted, reliable organization, click HERE

What would Jesus buy?

A beautiful girl in Uganda, and a happy boy in Peru enjoy their Operation Christmas Child shoe box gifts last year.


INSTEAD OF GIVING A MEANINGLESS GIFT TO SOMEONE WHO HAS EVERYTHING, GIVE A SHOE BOX TO A HURTING CHILD IN THEIR NAME! It is not too late! Bring your gift filled shoe box to: Hilo Missionary 1044 Komohana, Sun.12-5. and Mon. 3-5,or drop it off at Big Island Toyota during their business hours at both Hilo locations! MONDAY IS THE LAST DAY!! What would Jesus buy?
To find a drop off site near you click HERE.

Processing Center in Hawaii!!

Operation Christmas Child Team at work

We are now going to have our own processing center here in Hawaii for the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes! This year is the first year as usually our boxes go to the mainland first and then around the world.

12,500 boxes were collected last year from the beautiful people of Hawaii for children in desperate need around the world.
Operation Christmas Child is kids- helping kids project that uses simple gift filled shoe boxes to let hurting children know that they are loved.

These shoe boxes are filled with basic necessities, like soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, paper and pencils, and also fun stuff like, candy and toys. The boxes go to children who are living on garbage heaps, living in orphanages, refuge camps, and hospitals. Most of these children have never had a gift before in their lives.

Operation Christmas Child shoe box gifts are hand delivered to hurting children using whatever means necessary, sea containers, trucks, trains, airplanes, helicopters, canoes, camels, and even dog sleds.
Here in Hawaii our seniors, keikis, schools, businesses, Life Care Centers, Boy Scouts, and Churches have gotten involved in this wonderful project, sending Aloha around the world.
The Big Island alone gave 4,303 boxes last year, and we have relay centers in Maui, and Oahu. This year there will be a relay center on Kauai! The biggest most exciting news this year though is the Processing Center which will be in Honolulu this year!
The Collection Week is November 16- the 23, and the Hawaii Collection Center will be open for business Sat. Dec. 12- 17th from 10am-8pm week days and 9 am to 9pm on the weekend.

Shoe Boxes!

We hope you you can join us as we get ready to send shoe boxes filled with love to children in need around the world!
We are thrilled to have, Matt Foster, Operation Christmas Child Regional Director of South and East Asia as our Guest Speaker.
Matt works with the National Leader Volunteers and oversees the distribution of gifts through the local churches in countries including: China, India, Pakistan, Nepal and the Philippines. He has lived in China and Thailand and speaks Mandarin Chinese.
You will hear how God uses our simple gifts to change the life of a child, a family, even an entire village.
Learn how a shoe box allows the gospel to be proclaimed in the most unreached, unrecognized segments of society in Asia.
Operation Christmas Child promtional materials that will help you to achieve and exceed your shoe box goals in 2009 will be available.
Leave inspired,challenged and equipped!
Please extend this invitation to your church, group, family and friends. We hope to see you there!
This exciting event will be Monday August 17th 6:30 pm Hilo Missionary Church.
For more information or to help, contact: Heather at 969-1953 or heybooboopeace@aol.com
OCC National Collection Week Nov. 16 - 23, 2009

For the birds

Pictured here are the two Bantum chickens. They lay small white eggs that are actually pretty big when you consider the size of the chicken. I took this photo with my phone, and I can see it is not that great.

My son has been updating his blog more often than I have. I think he is doing an outstanding job, and his writing is getting better and better.

Where have I been? I have been going crazy, among other things. Working about 78 hours a week, homeschooling, taking kids to classes, baking bread, taking care of chickens,hiking to Shipman Beach,composting,recycling,sitting at this desk typing on this computer till my carpal tunnel acts up, and being on film for Operation Christmas Child.(We are going to be on the show Living In Paradise!)

My house is a mess. Something has to give right?

Thanksgiving in Hawaii

Laupahoehoe Point

I am so thankful for the 4,303 shoe boxes we collected for Operation Christmas Child!
Mahalo Big Island!!

I am thankful for my family,friends, and health. I am thankful for my bed and pillow,hot showers,and sunflowers.
a Bible
a comforter
mangos
pie
free range turkey
sweet potatoes
gravy
cranberries
Kealani's smile, exuberance, and excitement
Isaiah's laughter,thoughtfulness, and humor
music
tomatoes
the sight and sound of the ocean
the stars at night
fresh air
drums
photos
art
a garden
vanilla
cardamon rose soap(filthy farm girl)
coffee
toast with butter
hikes
good shoes
singing
trees
grass
zinnias
books
magazines
chickens
avocados
What are you thankful for?

Hand made beeswax tea candles

Here are some candles I made last year for Christmas presents.

I am thinking of making more this year.Trying to get inspired. Christmas is my favorite holiday. I was actually dreaming this morning about putting pretty candles in my Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. I have never heard of anyone putting candles in their shoe box before. I am making 3 teenage girl boxes so maybe a teenage girl would like or need a candle?I probably won't include matches, although they would probably be useful to a child in desperate need.

This is national collection week for Operation Christmas Child, so if you forgot, this is your friendly reminder to get your shoebox ready and take it down to the collection site in your area.

Here in Hilo, if you don't have your shipping fee, Big Island Toyota will pay it for you if you drop your box off there!Thank you Toyota!

Wrapping party

You can have a wrapping party too. Here are some friends and family happily wrapping shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Apparently Andreas is a excellent shoe box wrapper. I think he should do all the Christmas presents this year.

Free shipping pallets and shoe boxes

Here are the pallets, they are still in pallet form, and not in chicken coop form.Things are pretty crazy busy around my house.

We are quickly approaching Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child, Nov.17-24 2008.
The drop off site for Hilo, here on the Big Island is Hilo Missionary Church,1044 Komohana St.,Hilo. Mon.-Fri.3-5,Sat.10-1,Sun.12-5.
We will be at Wal-Mart in Hilo on Nov.8, 2008 if you want to pick up a box, or brochures, or if you would like to drop off your box at our booth that day you can do that too!
Here on the Big Island Operation Christmas Child brochures can be found at all KTA stores island wide.
Call 1-800-664-7563 for local info or to leave us a message and someone will return your call.

Will I have a chicken coop before Nov. 24?Not sure...I am sure the awesome people of the Big Island will bring record breaking numbers of shoe boxes.Yes!

Big Island Boy gives up Christmas!

Here is Tony during his interview with Carl from "Living In Paradise"(a local T.V. show about life on the Big Island)


Tony Briski,age 13, first heard about Operation Christmas Child two years ago in class at Christian Liberty School in Keaau, and his vision and heart for other children around the world just continued to grow. Briski's teacher Ms. Chester, explained that Operation Christmas Child delivers gift-filled shoe boxes to children in need around the world. Kids who have never had a Christmas gift in their lives, kids who are living on rubbish heaps, kids in war torn countries, and children who are orphans, or have survived natural disasters. She placed a container in the class for her students to donate money for the project. Soon the container was full, and they used the money to fill shoe boxes with school supplies, basic necessities like tooth paste, and tooth brushes, toys and other items.

A sixth grader at the time, Briski really enjoyed shopping for the shoe boxes, and decided to do more if he could. That year, in addition to the boxes they filled at school, Briski's family donated their own boxes to Operation Christmas Child. Briski thought he could do more, so he told his parents not to give him any Christmas gifts. Instead of presents that year, he wanted to make more boxes for OCC. "We take so much for granted, and we have so much. When I make shoe box gifts, I try to think about the basic necessities first, then after that I put in toys." said Briski.

The eighth grader is an example to all of us. Lets not just give out of our excess, let's sacrifice something so we can send a hurting child a Christmas gift. If we all sent one shoe box gift, how many smiles could we create this year? If you would like to pack a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child or for more information, please call OCC's toll free number 1-800-353-5949, or pick up a brochure at: all KTA stores island wide,Hosanna Christian Bookstore,Footlocker,and Wiki Wiki Video. Or check out www.samaritanspurse.org.

Do you have a shoe box in your closet?

This little girl is sending a gift filled shoe box to a needy child this Christmas.


Operation Christmas Child delivers gift filled shoe boxes to children in need around the world, kids who have never had a Christmas gift in their lives, kids who are living on rubbish heaps, kids in war torn countries, and children who are orphans, or have survived natural disasters.

Do you have a shoe box in your closet? You can send a shoe box too.

Young people who rock

Found this lovely girl on CNN.com. She was abandoned by her parents in Russia when she was only eight years old. Her name is Tanya Poteet. She is 18 years old now and lives with her adopted family in St. Louis. When she was in the orphanage, she received a gift from Operation Christmas Child. Now she volunteers for OCC and just got back from Quito, Ecuador delivering shoe box gifts to kids in orphanages there.To check out the full story click here. The video interview is here.
I am so encouraged when I hear about young people who are passionate about things that really matter.

War in Bosnia

Lejla Allison is my sister. I hope to meet her some day here on earth.

Something to hold

Aloha! Just wanted to remind those of you who shop sales all year to fill their
Operation Christmas Child
shoe boxes, that this month the theme is "something to hold"

We can put many different items in our shoe boxes, but there are 3 items that are most important. #1 is something with color. #2 is something to hold, and #3 is a picture of you.


In June lets find a stuffed animal or baby doll for our shoe box.
If there is a good sale out there I will let you know. I will be heading to a toy store this month.


The children who receive these shoe box gifts need something to hold at night. Many of them are orphans, and are all alone. One volunteer told us that even the teen boys love the stuffed animals.

Last month was "something with color" month.
I have got my shoe box, my box of crayons, and now I am looking for a teddy bear:-)

Disaster Relief in Virginia,Myanmar, China, and more

Here is a picture of Heather and my kiddies, volunteering for Operation Christmas Child.(Samaritan's Purse) It was fun, getting together with friends to organize the pamphlets, chat, and eat pizza.

I am so happy that I get to be a part of this amazing relief organization! I found out that
Samaritan's Purse is providing disaster relief in Virginia,Myanmar, and China.
Franklin Graham was actually IN China when the earthquake hit!

Since 1983, Samaritan’s Purse has mobilized thousands of volunteers to work with our Disaster Relief Teams to provide emergency aid to disaster victims in the United States.Samaritan’s Purse was able to bring physical and spiritual aid to hundreds of thousands of people in more than 130 countries, including many areas previously unreached by Christians. If you can give money, give! Samaritan's Purse is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

Samaritan's Purse is looking for more volunteers, so check out their website to find out how you can help.

Mahalo,
Sunny

A letter from India!

Sheree Perkins received a thank you letter from India! Her box went to a little girl, and the little girl's mother wrote a thank you letter saying that they were "so satisfied" with the items in the box, and that they were praying for Sheree!

Sherry Perkins is the Prayer Coordinator for the Hawaii Operation Christmas Child Team, and she was so encouraged to find out where her box went. Through Operation Christmas Child, keiki, families,schools,churches,scout troops, and others around the Big Island collected and sent 3,102 gift filled shoe boxes last year! The people of our island are amazing! We are going to celebrate on May 16, 2008 at Hilo Missionary Church,at 6:30pm. Please come and see what a difference your shoe box made in 2007! Come even if you have never sent a shoe box, and find out more about the power of a simple gift! This is a wonderful project that transcends all barriers-language, cultural, geographical, and political-to give hurting children joy and hope at Christmastime!

Operation Christmas Child Hawaii Team

I am the Media Relations Coordinator for the Hawaii Operation Christmas Child Team. Wow, that is a long title.
Just call me the MRCHOCCT. Actually, just call me Sunny.Operation Christmas Child is also known as the "Shoe Box Project" We send millions of gift filled shoe boxes to children in desperate need, all around the world.

Here we are in San Ramon last week at the Operation Christmas Child Connect Conference.
San Ramon is 35min. from San Francisco. See we have flowers in our hair....reminds me of a song.
Well, the conference was really, informative,fun,encouraging,etc....and we got to go shopping for shoes.
Here in Hawaii we go around barefooted, so when we get off the rock we like to buy shoes.
I really loved meeting all the OCC staff and volunteers from the West coast, Alaska, Utah, Nevada, Germany, and Jamaica.
The speakers were lovely and many of the stories and testimonies made us cry. I felt so blessed to be there. I really was spoiled. It was over and above anything I could have asked for.
Thank you OCC for allowing me to be a part of the vision. Together we show hurting children around the world that Jesus loves them.