The South Johnson Elementary School Beta Club smiles with the gifts they’re sending to Operation Christmas Child to help other kids receive presents this holiday season.
Photo courtesy of Scotland County Public Schools
LAURINBURG—The South Johnson Elementary School’s Beta Club got into the Christmas spirit early as they filled boxes for children in need.
Operation Christmas Child provides gift boxes to children around the world, according to the group’s website. Since 1993, Samaritan’s Purse has collected shoebox gifts filled with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items and has given assistance to more than 198 million children.
Mrs. Paula Dial and Mrs. Kim Walker, the co-sponsors of the Beta Club, shared the Operation Christmas Child project with the South Johnson Beta Club students and let them ask questions about the needs of children in third-world nations.
“We looked up pictures and watched videos of children getting the boxes in different countries and how those children were needy, not just here in our community but in other places. They were excited to help and honestly, they were shocked that that would be the only Christmas gift,” Mrs. Dial said.
She added that children in our community are used to getting more than one box for Christmas and the Beta Club members were happy to help the children.
“They were like if this is the only gift that these children get, then they wanted to be of help,” Mrs. Dial said.
The Beta Club put together 17 boxes for Operation Christmas Child. But it wasn’t just the Beta Club members that helped spread joy. Mrs. Dial said the South Johnson Elementary School staff was a big part of making sure the boxes were packed.
“The staff was able to make donations to the Beta Club,” she said. “And we went over the things that you would normally put in the boxes.”
While the boxes were filled with necessities, like toothbrushes and other toiletries, the students were able to include fun items like toys. And of course, school supplies.
Mrs. Dial said through the staff’s donations, she and Mrs. Walker were able to shop for the items that the kids needed, then they brought them to the school so that the Beta Club students could select a box for a boy or a girl and fill it up. And thanks to the donations from the staff, the Beta Club was also able to pay for shipping the boxes as well.
“When we introduced the project, we talked about our community and how when it comes to the places that these boxes are going we’re not poor,” said Mrs. Walker. “Some of these kids don’t have shoes.”
She said they wanted to show the students how some kids their age are working to support their families in some of the regions where the boxes are going.
“They took great pride in putting these boxes together,” Mrs. Walker said. “Some of them would finish and tell us, we still have room in the box, can we put more in it?”
The answer was always yes.
While this teaches students what it means to help others through projects like this, it also helps to prepare Scotland County Schools students to be productive citizens in a global society, as outlined in the vision for the district.