Operation Christmas Shoebox

WFWP Girls is a wonderful initiative of the Elizabeth, New Jersey chapter of WFWP that has been engaging girls between the ages of 6 and 14 since its launch in 2017 with the mission of “bringing everlasting peace to their community and nation through the logic of love and kindness.” The girls have been involved in a variety of projects over the years, often in collaboration with other organizations, with the heart of serving others and bringing joy to people.

WFWP Girls’ most recent project, “Operation Christmas Shoebox,'' was carried out in collaboration with Samaritan’s Purse, an international humanitarian aid organization that focuses on disaster relief. Samaritan’s Purse has a special holiday program called Operation Christmas Child, which sends gifts to children in need around the world. 

This program uses shoeboxes as their means of transportation of gifts. Each donor chooses a child from a set of age ranges and selects toys according to their age. In addition to toys, this could also include hats, scarves, toothbrushes, and other essential needs. The shoeboxes are dropped off at a location managed by Samaritan’s Purse and they give them a label that they can track to where the shoebox ends up. They can see what country their shoebox goes to and who gets it. Pretty cool! 

On November 14, 2020, the WFWP Girls sent shoeboxes filled with toys, books, cards, and lots of love to very special children. It was a beautiful opportunity for the girls to help other children in this season of giving. Teaching about caring and living for the sake of others through this service project is really what we are all about.