Juliette Rose, a resident of Scotch Plains and first grader at Trivium Academy of New Jersey, participated in a worthy cause that will touch the heart and life of a child thousands of miles away. As part of her community service at her school, she donated her time filling up a box with toys, hygiene products and school supplies; items most American children may take for granted and certainly would not expect to find under their Christmas tree. In an interview with Jill Parasine, a volunteer with the North Central New Jersey Area Team of Operation Christmas Child for the past five years,she shared a memorable moment from one recipient of an Operation Christmas Child box. “Alex, a Rwandan boy, received a comb which he carried for years and cherished because he felt such pride in having one of his own,” said Parasine. “He later volunteered for OCC as a young man to give back and to help others understand how their gift can impact the life of a child in another country.Even a small gift, such as a toothbrush, could be an extraordinary item to children in some countries where families share one toothbrush.” Before packing the boxes with donated items, students watched a video at school explaining the collection process and how each of their boxes will carry great joy and meaning to another child.
The kids were delighted to learn that the boxes can be delivered by canoe, camel, truck, donkey, and even by elephant. Since 1993, Samaritan’s Purse,a Christian Humanitarian aid organization, founded by Rev. Franklin Graham, Rev. Billy Graham’s son,has collected and delivered more than 124 million gift-filled shoe boxes to children in more than 150 countries and territories through Operation Christmas Child. In 2015, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough shoe box gifts to reach another11 million children. Shoebox gifts are collected in the U.S., Australia, Finland, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Canada,Spain and the U.K. Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes are delivered to children around the world.Samaritan’s Purse not only delivers the boxes to children, they also invite the children to attend a 12-part Bible study, entitled “The Greatest Journey” in their language at their level.
It ends with a lively graduation ceremony and a gift of a Bible in their language. Trivium Academy of New Jersey is an accredited private Classical Christian school, located in South Plainfield, New Jersey. To learn more, visit http://www.triviumacademynj.org.
