The gift that keeps on giving
Operation Christmas Child at CSUSM
Jordan Verdin
Issue date: 11/17/09 Section: Faces & Places
Imagine Christmas morning and you have no gifts to share, no happiness. For hundreds of thousands of children around the world, this is a cold, hard reality. Priority Christian Challenge (PCC) is a club on campus that is involved with "shoebox ministry," and partners with Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child.
Students involved with this group want to make a difference and change the lives of these children, hoping to share the gift of love and of joy by letting children know that there is someone who does care about them and the situation they are in. This activity brings people from different groups and clubs together for one cause: to share the joy and love of the holiday with needy children.
When Ruth Bran, the director of PCC and volunteer campus minister at Cal State San Marcos, heard about Operation Christmas Child eight years ago, she knew this would be the perfect way to impact others during the holidays. Students involved with PCC give joy to disadvantaged children aged from two to 14 at Christmastime, and let them know that they are special.
Cal State San Marcos students put together over 300 shoeboxes, and while the items within the shoeboxes -- toiletries, toys crayons, school supplies, stuffed animals, and stickers - aren't particularly expensive, the gifts are cherished for a lifetime.
"These shoeboxes might be one of the only gifts the child will ever receive their entire life," said Bran. One of the groups involved is Alpha XI Delta, a sorority that threw a party and had several teams bring gifts and boxes.
They collected over 200 boxes at that event. "Every box will change a child's life," said Jenny McDonald, treasurer of Priority Christian challenge and sister of Alpha XI Delta.
CSUSM's international students and the American Language and Culture instate are also involved with Operation Christmas Child, and realize that what they are doing is a life changing experience for both themselves and the children.
Students involved with this group want to make a difference and change the lives of these children, hoping to share the gift of love and of joy by letting children know that there is someone who does care about them and the situation they are in. This activity brings people from different groups and clubs together for one cause: to share the joy and love of the holiday with needy children.
When Ruth Bran, the director of PCC and volunteer campus minister at Cal State San Marcos, heard about Operation Christmas Child eight years ago, she knew this would be the perfect way to impact others during the holidays. Students involved with PCC give joy to disadvantaged children aged from two to 14 at Christmastime, and let them know that they are special.
Cal State San Marcos students put together over 300 shoeboxes, and while the items within the shoeboxes -- toiletries, toys crayons, school supplies, stuffed animals, and stickers - aren't particularly expensive, the gifts are cherished for a lifetime.
"These shoeboxes might be one of the only gifts the child will ever receive their entire life," said Bran. One of the groups involved is Alpha XI Delta, a sorority that threw a party and had several teams bring gifts and boxes.
They collected over 200 boxes at that event. "Every box will change a child's life," said Jenny McDonald, treasurer of Priority Christian challenge and sister of Alpha XI Delta.
CSUSM's international students and the American Language and Culture instate are also involved with Operation Christmas Child, and realize that what they are doing is a life changing experience for both themselves and the children.
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