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The Alternative Break Board recently organized a fundraiser, which

raised goods to provide Christmas packages to underprivileged

children around the world.

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The RSO organized Operation Christmas Child, a fundraiser that

focuses on compiling packages that are then wrapped and sent around

the world at the discretion of the Samaritan’s Purse, the

organization that runs the charity. 

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This was the third year that Alternative Break Board did the event

and organizers are satisfied about the project’s success.

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The event, which ran Nov. 1-15, was successful on campus, according

to Brown.

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“All the boxes we’ve raised so far have been from students. It’s

something real simple—you’re filling a shoebox. You could even go

to the Dollar Tree. These kids that get these boxes are

poverty-stricken, so anything that they get they’re appreciative

of,” said Brown.

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The different organizations around campus were encouraged to

participate as well. Each box donated by an RSO received one lion

cup point with a maximum of two as an incentive to get

involved. 

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The contents of the boxes were delegated by the Samaritan’s Purse

organization. The charity asked for things like school supplies,

toys, hygiene items and candy. However, the group was adamant about

certain items being left out such as used or damaged, breakable or

war-related items, chocolate or food, out-of-date candy, liquids,

lotions or medications, according to the philanthropy’s brochure

given to volunteers. The organization put hard thought into the

items that could be donated.

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“Some of these boxes go to places where there are civil wars and

you don’t want a children’s toy to be mistaken as a real weapon,”

said Brown.

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The Alternative Break Board chose this philanthropy for a reason:

they have a special tie with Operation Christmas Child.

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“One thing about Alternative Break Board is that we do stuff

regionally and hopefully one day internationally, and Operation

Christmas Child focuses on all these different areas. Some of the

boxes stay domestically in the U.S., but then a lot of them go to

poverty-stricken countries, third world countries, so they have a

global scope as well,” said Brown.

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With other organizations like Angel Tree that appear around

Christmas time, competition seems likely. However, Brown assures

that competition is mild and unimportant.

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“Operation Christmas Child is earlier than Angel Tree, plus they

serve different constituencies, and Angel Tree is larger scale.

It’s through the Salvation Army. Some people chose to do both, so I

don’t think it’s harmful [having multiple charities],” said

Brown.

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With the charity becoming an annual event, it is clear that the

event is not just for charity anymore.

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“My favorite part is the compassion that goes with it. You’re

helping someone you don’t even know and I think that’s one of the

best things about a serving heart is that you don’t necessarily

need to see the impact of what you’re doing. It just warms my

heart,” said Brown.

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While the charity ended on campus, donations can still be made

through http://www.samaritanspurse.org/ezgive.