When Pat Hopper became involved in Operation Christmas Child aka: Christmas in a Shoebox, 13 years ago, it wasn’t a gentle wish to help, it was a driving force within her that told her she needed to be doing this for the children, for God's children.
With the support of her husband Don, her children and her church, Pat threw herself, heart and soul, into helping the thousands of children worldwide.
Since its inception in 1993, Operation Christmas Child has delivered shoeboxes to children in over 100 countries, over 8 million children alone in 2010.
The organization that heads up this program, Samaritans Purse, does not stop at delivering Christmas to the indigent and the desolate, they also help with disaster relief in countries suffering from natural or man-made disasters. First on the scene in Haiti, Samaritans Purse was able to transport and provide necessary supplies and help to thousands of displaced and frightened Haitians.
Christmas in a Shoebox is a simple program with far reaching positive effects. Throughout the year Pat collects shoeboxes that will be filled with necessities of life for the youngest casualties of poverty. Each shoebox will be filled with donated soap, tooth brushes, toothpaste, crayons, paper, books, band aids and more. Each box will also hold a treasure for the young recipient, a toy, something as simple as a yo-yo, a jump rope or a ball that will light up their little world.
Pat stresses that this gift is not simply a hand-out to a nation or country that is not an open recipient. The friendships and relationships have been cultivated in many nations through evangelistic missionary work. Each carefully packed box is a powerful gift, showing love and compassion for a child that may have never known such care, such emotions.
Boxes, marked by age and sex, are not only handed out in orphanages and organized religious institutions, they are delivered to hospitals, encampments, and even to the dumps where children are found homeless in search of food and something resembling clothing to warm their frail bodies.
One such child was Luba, a seven-year-old Russian orphan, who had been left at the orphanage when she was 6 months old with her brother and sister. Many days were spent without food, with no love, and no hope for a brighter future. When Luba opened her box, she did not know what a toothbrush was, she attempted to use it on her lice bitten shaven head. She wondered at the delicious smelling toothpaste and proceeded to try to eat it to fill her empty stomach. The watermelon chapstick reminded her of the rinds she would pull from the dumpsters near the town’s market. Each piece of candy was carefully unwrapped and then was stuffed into her mouth all at once. With instruction from the deliverers of the box, she learned how to use the toothbrush, the chapstick, hold a pencil and pray. With her new stuffed animal, a toy she had never had, she sat that evening and prayed for a family. The next day a lady from the United States came to the orphanage and fell in love with the emaciated Luba as well as her brother and sister, adopting them and returning to the US. Luba, now a healthy teen, has come full circle and is an active participant in Operation Christmas Child in her community.
There are countless more stories and testimonials to the changes that occur once a child receives the simple gift of a shoebox filled with love. But suffice it to say, there would be less children receiving such gifts of love if it were not for people like Pat Hopper.
If you would like to help Pat please feel free to call her at 785-3631. “I will open my doors and answer my phone 24/7 for shoebox donations.”
For more information on Operation Christmas Child please visit http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/
To read the article in the Chicago County Press about Luba and her Operation Christmas Child efforts in her neighborhood click HERE .
Pat Hopper and friends promoting Operation Christmas Child at 2011 Copperopolis Homecoming
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