As Operation Christmas Child shoebox collection week approaches if you're like me you may have some items left that you couldn't quite squeeze in the boxes...or you got more of a certain item than you ended up needing. Did you know you can donate them?Many crafters craft all year and donate hand made items to help fill the need. And groups like the Pencil Granny and Friends on Facebook work on specific filler items to donate.
Anything that can go in an OCC shoebox can be donated. Just put it in a box or bag and label it "fillers," find your local Drop-Off Location (you can find yours in thru that week as it gets close to national collection week, the rest of the year it isn't up because it can change year-to-year), and take it there. They'll take them to the Processing Center, then if someone packs something in a box that needs taken out (items banned due to customs, being fragile, perishable, etc.) the volunteers will have something to replace it with. Or if someone can't quite fill up their box, they'll have something extra to tuck in! A great win-win!
You can also ship donations year round to Operation Christmas Child headquarters at 801 Bamboo Road, Boone, NC 28607.
You can see a few of the kinds of things we craft for fillers in this post: Babies, Bears & Bags for Operation Christmas Child Filler Donation.
If you love to craft check out Five Ways to Donate Fillers to Operation Christmas Child.
NOTE: I live in the United States and this post was written based on that, but I'm guessing the same or similar is true for all sending countries.
I sent in two boxes of fillers and still had some things to put away for my boxes next year! I also ordered 3 dozen small stuffed animals from Oriental Trading and sent most of those for filling. I was so glad to be able to do that this year. I had read that some of the boxes are a little skimpy, and I do so like a full box for these kids! I hope others are sending in fillers as well.
ReplyDeleteI always make and buy extra goodies to give to my friends groups to use as fillers, I really enjoy using my sewing skills in this way! :)
ReplyDeleteIts the same in Canada.
ReplyDeletesame in Australia, fillers always needed, or in Aust you can contribute cash for OCC to purchase fillers
ReplyDeleteWe started the PENCIL GRANNY and FRIENDS because of the need for pencils and school supplies in the shoeboxes & because of the need for fillers. We are working to send 10,000 pencil filler packs to the processing centers in 2016. Anyone can help and all pencil filler packs get dropped off when you drop off your shoeboxes. Even one pack may help a child attend school.
ReplyDeleteBased on my experience as a volunteer in Baltimore, I am collecting more filler items to bring along next time. Unfortunately, some of the boxes are sadly lacking items, and others have several non-allowed items that must be removed. At times it was difficult for us to find a filler item to match the box the child was for, or even to find an item that was totally lacking, such as a toothbrush, pencils, soap, notebook, whatever. They can't give out all filler items at once, so we were limited to what would fit in the bins at our assembly line.
ReplyDeleteFiller is so important -this year at our processing center the filler really wasn't age appropriate...sure made me wish I had sent a box or two in with some toys and hard candy
ReplyDeleteIn NZ we were asked to donate beanies last year for using as fillers. This year, I've been looking for beanies wherever I go and have found some amazing deals on them - I picked up some fleece ones for 50c and some knitted ones for $1!
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