Huron Expositor, 2014-12-17, Page 2222 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Operation Christmas Child Shoebox a great success in Dublin
Kristine Jean
13M1 Agency
Thanks to the efforts of a
few area residents, the Oper-
ation Christmas Child shoe -
box program is helping put a
smile on children's faces this
Christmas.
Local resident Dayna
Mahon coordinated the ini-
tiative at St. Patrick's School
in Dublin this year.
"I heard of the program in
previous years, through dif-
ferent organizations and I
would see the boxes around,"
said Mahon. "I got online
and started reading what
they were about and learned
that people could volunteer
their time to help sort
through the boxes."
Operation Christmas
Child is a program run by
Samaritan's Purse, a Chris-
tian relief and development
organization that helps pro-
vide both spiritual and phys-
ical aid to children, adults
and families around the
world. Shoeboxes of items
are collected by different
organizations including
churches, schools, and com-
munity groups.
Planning to fill a couple of
boxes with her children, she
put the word out via social
media that she was volun-
teering her time for the
shoebox program and
invited any friends that
would be interested in help -
Photo submitted
St. Patrick's, Dublin students involved with the Operation Christmas Child shoebox grogram are Jack Nolan (left), Joey Crowley, Kora
Smith, Nathan Follett, Dylan Simpson.
ing out, to join her.
Mahon and her friends
decided to meet the chal-
lenge of filling 25 shoeboxes
for Operation Christmas
Child, taking them with her
to Waterloo, one of three
processing centers in Can-
ada, a few weeks ago.
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As the holidays are
upon us, we pause to
say thank -you & extend
Season's Greetings
& best wishes for
the New Year.
Merry Christmas!
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To Mahon's surprise, once
the word got out, the project
soon expanded.
"Then there was a news-
letter sent home from the
school (St. Patrick's School
in Dublin), that said they
would be collecting items for
these shoeboxes."
A total of 30 boxes were
filled with such things as
toys, school supplies, cloth-
ing and hygiene items and
sent to various parts of the
world including the Carib-
bean, Central and South
America, and parts of Asia.
"I was overwhelmed by the
amount of things that came
from the school," said
s'IerrY Christmas to All
And to A4 a Good Night!
With warm wishes and gratitude
this holiday season from our
entire staff. We than7c you for
theprivilege of serving you and
hope to see you again, soon!
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www.grovestv.com
Mahon. "There were hun-
dreds of items - my living
room floor was covered with
items from the school, that's
just three grades, Junior Kin-
dergarten to Grade 2."
There was one group of
items that Mahon hoping to
collect an abundance of, and
sure enough, either through
just coincidence, or perhaps
a Christmas miracle, those
items came through.
"The one thing that I
thought was amazing was the
amount of school supplies
that were donated," said
Mahon. "We were able to jam
boxes full of crayons, markers,
pens, paper, notepads - there
was enough of everything
along with hygiene items,
books, and toys as well."
Mahon noted that many
children receiving these boxes
don't have access to an educa-
tion unless they provide their
own school supplies.
"As I was putting these
boxes together I though isn't
this amazing that these boxes
from students, staff and par-
ents from St. Patrick's school
are potentially providing a
child in a developing coun-
try, the opportunity to get an
education," she said. "Many
who may not have otherwise
had that opportunity."
In addition to the shoeboxes,
there is an important message
shared with the children.
'Along with the items, the
whole purpose of the pro-
gram is to spread the word of
God and the true meaning of
Christmas," she explained.
"Christmas is about Jesus
Christ. You're giving these
children hope and sharing
that is a big part of this too:'
The shoebox project in
Dublin was a great success
this year thanks to local mem-
bers of the community, noted
Mahon, and helped teach an
important lesson for the stu-
dents at St. Patrick's School.
"It helps teach the stu-
dents that Christmas isn't all
about getting presents, it's
about giving too."
"The support of friends
and family, and the amount
of stuff that we collected
from the school was truly
amazing," said Mahon. " It
was proof that we live in an
amazing community with
such generous people. It was
really amazing to see."
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Your generous
support has
helped to put us
on the map.
With heartfelt
gratitude and
warm wishes to
all for the very
merriest of
holidays ever!
prim itivn crn•nk.
65 Main St., S Seaforth.519-600-1020