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CRU collects shoe boxes and shipping funds with drives

The Campus Crusade for Christ held a Bake Sale and Shoe Box Drive on Nov. 15 to raise funds to distribute gifts for children in need.

Samaritan's Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization that strives to provide aid to those in need around the world.

One of the ways the organization does this is the annual Operation Christmas Child donation event where community members pack shoebox gifts to be sent to children in need.

Churches and other groups around the country collect boxes from their communities to be donated. The Campus Crusade for Christ group volunteered to serve as a drop-off location for the boxes.

A donation of $9 per shoebox is required for each shoebox. The organization then transports the boxes from the 5,000 donation drop-off locations around the United States to the eight processing locations, including Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Boone and Charlotte, North Carolina, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Minneapolis, and Southern California. The boxes are then processed at these locations by thousands of volunteers and prepared for international shipping. All of this factors into the nine dollar donation cost.

The Campus Crusade for Christ sold baked goods to supplement the cost of shipping the shoe boxes.

Paraeducator student Dawn Arvoy bought food during the bake sale in support of the cause.

"I wouldn't usually buy food like this, but since it's going towards a good cause, I don't mind," she said. "If the cause is good enough, the money shouldn't matter."

There are a variety of objects that are recommended by Samaritan’s Purse to be included in the shoe boxes, including “wow” items such as a stuffed animal or clothing. Samaritan’s Purse provides a source to determine which age-appropriate items to include and exclude from boxes.

Nursing student Eliza Lancaster was unaware of the existence of the program.

"It's important to help those in need, especially around the holidays," she said.

Veterinary Technology student Julia McKenzie volunteered with her family every year while living in Sugar Hill, Georgia, a town near one of the eight processing locations.

"It's great seeing the different volunteer groups," she said. "My family is very passionate about helping others. Just because we live somewhere else doesn't mean we can't still help."

National Collection Week has passed, but shoeboxes can continue to be delivered through Dec. 16 to one of Samaritan's Purse's eight processing locations. Shoeboxes are also able to be created online.


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