The women of Niedfeldt Residence will embrace the Christmas spirit early as they help prepare for Operation Christmas Child’s annual Pack-A-Box party at College Baptist Church.
Hannah Wolff, sophomore resident assistant, organized the event. They decided to help with Operation Christmas Child last year as they brainstormed for dorm events, she said.
“I grew up doing Operation Christmas Child and I love it,” Wolff said. “I thought that would be a really good interactive kind of event for the dorm to do. There are quite a few events all culminating with sending the boxes off.”
Operation Christmas Child, a non-denominational national organization, packs shoebox-sized boxes full of toys and toiletry essentials and ships them to children internationally. Most recently, Si Robertson of “Duck Dynasty” shot a video promotion advertising for the collection week of Nov. 18-25.
Sue Reed, Relay Center coordinator for Hillsdale County’s Operation Christmas Child and member of College Baptist Church, has been in charge of directing the Pack-A-Box party since 2006.
“Pack-A-Box party was a suggestion that Operation Christmas Child made to churches across the country, and I just kind of ran with it,” Reed said. “We set up the church like a general store and then people start with their shoebox and put in the necessary items.”
Volunteers pack a bar of soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a washcloth in every box, then fill the rest of the space with toys and hard candy. Reed said she hopes to fill 200 boxes at the Pack-A-Box party.
The women of Niedfeldt will be sorting through the donations on Thursday evening and Friday afternoon before the Pack-A-Box party begins.
Junior RA Katie Summa said the Niedfelt RAs thought it best to choose a philanthropy event that would focus on service instead of relying on collections.
“We, as an RA team, wanted to build a bridge between the college and the community that centered around service. By going to College Baptist, it shows that we support them and allows our girls to experience a part of the community that they may not have yet,” Summa said.
Wolff said they still encourage people to donate items.
“We encouraged girls to make boxes of their own, but we were not sure about how we were going cost wise,” she said. “We decided volunteer time instead of actual shopping would be the best way.”
