At the end of each month, one class or grade at Wesley leads the effort to raise funds or collect items to help a charity in our local or global community. This event is called “Care & Share Day”. Different charities are chosen to represent diverse projects in order to give our students awareness of local and global needs and to help them realize that effort from children and youth can make a difference. More importantly, we want to encourage them to participate with a loving and servant heart.
In October, our SK1 announced that their Care & Share event would be to support Samaritan Purse’s Operation Christmas Child. Dressed as a specially marked red and green shoebox or armed with a smaller version of the special shoebox, representatives from the SK1 class shared details about their initiative.
There were two ways to support their event:
- Donate money on October 29th- which would be used to buy items that the SK1 class would use to pack shoeboxes for children around the world.
- Receive an empty specially marked shoebox on October 29th, pack it yourself with items of your choice, and bring it to school for collection during the week of November 10-14.
On October 29th, the SK1 students counted empty boxes and specially marked labels to deliver to each classroom for students who signed up and committed to packing boxes themselves.
We also collected $1322.85 which Mrs. Kaske used to buy a large selection of items for her students to pack in their boxes. Money was also set aside to pay the $12 shipping fee per shoebox.
The SK1 class also made posters that were put up in strategic places to remind elementary students to bring their filled shoeboxes to school between November 10-14.
On November 13th, the SK1 teachers carefully put together 50 specially marked red and green shoeboxes and laid out their purchases.
Students took turns to select items on the carpet to fill their shoebox. There were teddy bears, skipping ropes, toy cars, pencils, crayons, sharpeners, mitts, socks, gloves, water bottles, soccer balls and so much more. Each student chose to pack a shoebox for either a boy or a girl and lovingly went through the selection, carefully choosing items their recipient might like. You could see the thoughts that went into each object that was selected. Some even hugged their stuffed animals before they put them in the boxes, hoping to transfer a bit of their own love and care to the future recipient. The conversations that took place between the students and teachers were amazing. They were filled with curiosity about the recipients, what they might need or enjoy, where would the boxes end up, etc.
After each shoebox was filled, every student sat down to write a note to their new friend. Messages of hope and love filled each card and were tucked into the boxes. Next, every box was sealed with a piece of green tape, and a special tracking label was attached at the top. Students will be able to find out the name of the country where their box ends up.
Finally, when each box was sealed and complete with items, a note, and a label, the SK1 class put their boxes on their desks and sat in front of them. With one hand stretched on top of their box, the class prayed over their packages, asking God to bring each one safely to a special girl or boy who needed these gifts and to transform their lives through the love of Jesus.
Then, the boxes were moved to the back of the classroom. Along with the boxes from other classes at Wesley, a beautiful Christmas tree pattern was made out.
On Monday, November 17th, all the boxes were placed in transparent plastic bags and loaded into the cars of two volunteers. The SK1 class went outside, followed the boxes as far as they could go, and said one final farewell to them.
As a school, the SK1 class put together 50 boxes, and we collected another 153 from the other classes, for a total of 203 boxes. Some boxes were so stuffed that Mrs. Kaske had to put extra tape to secure them. Many also came with generous cheques that exceeded the cost of shipping.
Thank you, Wesley, for your generous contributions that allowed our SK1’s to have a very tangible and meaningful opportunity to put together a potentially life changing gift for a little boy or girl in another part of the world. May these boxes be a declaration to the children who receive them that God loves them and has enabled others around the world to be generous in His name.
