Freshmen Nick Stocks and Matt Mensen participated in Operation Christmas Child this year, volunteering at a processing center.

Project Operation Christmas Child, created by Samaritan’s Purse, delivers shoeboxes filled with gifts to children in need worldwide.

On Dec. 8 and 9, Stocks and Mensen traveled to Minneapolis with about twelve other people to sort through the shoeboxes of gifts. According to Mensen, certain items such as toothpaste and candy needed to be removed because of customs requirements. Along with the sorting, the volunteers arranged the boxes in packing cartons so they could be transported to the East Coast to be shipped overseas.

Mensen first heard about OCC four or five years ago. He enjoys knowing he makes a difference, and he wants to continue to

be a part of the program to help it grow more.

“I plan to help out because I always have a good time, and it is a growing mission for the churches in and around Manchester,” Mensen said. “This year we doubled the number of youth going to Minneapolis.”

Stocks visited the processing center last year, and he enjoyed it so much he decided to participate again this year.

“I like to see what people include in their boxes,” Stocks said. “It’s my favorite part.”

The Manchester area donated 1,437 boxes to children overseas. Gifts usually consist of clothes, toys, personal care items, and school supplies. Boxes are sent to children ranging from ages two to four, five to nine, and ten to fourteen.

As a gift for a ten to fourteen-year-old boy, Stocks sent a box that included soap, a washcloth, tools, a notebook, pens, pencils, a pencil sharpener, a t-shirt, a pair of socks, and a personal note with a picture of himself.

“God can do amazing things through the simplest of things like a washcloth,” Stocks said. “The child who receives that wash cloth may be an orphan who has to share one washcloth with the rest of the orphanage.”

Mensen also sent a box.

“I mostly put in old school supplies and a t-shirt. I filled the rest of the space up with old toys and little tools, like a little tape measure.”

Participating in this organization provides memorable experiences.

“At the processing center, they had a woman who received a box when she was younger and she got a Bible with it,” Stocks said. “The first verse she read out of it was Jeremiah 29:11, and that is my favorite bible verse.”