Operation Christmas Child

This year, my family participated in something called Operation Christmas Child. Run by Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child collects millions of shoe boxes full of Christmas gifts and gives them to the less fortunate. Since 1993, when the operation started, they have filled and shipped over 100 million shoe boxes.
Although you do not know where you're sending your shoe box, you can decide whether you buy for a girl or a boy. You can also pick an age category for your donation.
This year my family filled a shoe box for a girl from the ages 5 - 9. We went to Five Below and bought as much stuff as we could stuff into our shoe box. Some of those items include: School supplies, stuffed animals, toys, jewelry, note pads, coloring books, and hair accessories. We also put a little note including a picture of our family.
Another thing you have the option of doing is putting a label on your shoe box so when it gets shipped out, you know where it's going to end up. We did that as well.
I think that Operation Christmas Child is a remarkable program. The fact that enough people donate shoe boxes that the company sends to 150 countries is amazing. I hope that we continue to donate each year and find even more ways we can help out.