YISS Surpasses Own Record for Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child (OCC) at YISS unofficially started in late September when our elementary and middle school students were greeted by guest speaker Elizabeth Groff. Elizabeth is a former recipient of a shoebox when she lived at an orphanage in Ukraine. She shared the power of receiving a shoebox and how it changed her life. As Guardians, our students have Expected Schoolwide Learning Results, known as ESLRs. Two of these ESLRs are Compassionate and Servant-Hearted. OCC is one of many opportunities our school community provides to live out these values. With the support of the PTO, ES Chaplain Mr. Adams, MS Service Club, and HS NHS, YISS officially started our OCC campaign in late October.  

If you were able to visit YISS the week of Thanksgiving, you were greeted by the sight of our newly decorated and lit Christmas tree in the front lobby with hundreds of green & red shoeboxes around it. At first glance, you may be wondering if you missed a Guardian Store shoe sale, but rest assured, you did not! In fact, each of the 500+ boxes in the lobby was packed and donated to a child in need. Many students who first learn about OCC wonder what goes inside these shoeboxes. If you were to peek inside one of the 515 YISS shoeboxes, you’d find brand-new toys, hygiene products, school supplies, creativity, and love. You would likely also see a handwritten letter to the child who will receive that box and even a photo from the student/family who packed it. We are especially proud to continue growing this program as this year’s total surpassed last year’s donation of 363 shoeboxes to OCC.

Operation Christmas Child has been serving children impacted by poverty, natural disaster, war, and famine since 1993. Their mission is to, “demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world.” This year’s shoeboxes are going to children in either Ukraine or the Philippines. Equally exciting is that Elizabeth Groff is delivering the 200 millionth box to a child in Ukraine (and it contains a special item from Korea). YISS is blessed to be serving in a community that leads with compassion and generosity.