How small businesses can participate in Operation Christmas Child

I love Operation Christmas Child and this time of year, our family is counting our year-round collection of OCC shoebox supplies. I was recently asked by a small business how they could use their customers to gather and pack boxes for Operation Christmas Child. So I thought I would take our conversation and share a few tips and ideas for fitness centers, retail stores, insurance companies, or other small businesses to gather supplies and pack OCC shoeboxes.

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If you have not seen some of my other tips for packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, you might check out these posts.

Check out these tips for small businesses like fitness centers, retail stores, insurance offices to get their customers involved in packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. These tips are also great to get your business involved in collecting items for donation during the holidays. #occ #occpackingparty #ideasforshoeboxes #ideasforholidaydonations #collectingdonations

So, to get started on our tips for getting small businesses involved in packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, the question came:

How can our fitness center gather, track, and pack shoeboxes using our current customers?

Of course, COVID things kinda make collecting and packing an interesting process. The process you choose depends on how much as a business are worried about all the collecting and processing of items. Or, just gathering them and sorting as usual. But here are some ideas that come to my mind immediately.

How to get customers to participate and pack OCC shoeboxes?

keep the timeframe to take action short – set your timeframe for no more than 2 weeks, but longer than a week. That means your planning and implementation plan needs to be in place!
make it simple to participate – remove obstacles and make it easy for drop and go
make it easy to leave items – especially given COVID adjustments
make it easy to give money instead of items
make it personal – tell stories of why you participate and why your business is involved. Show the videos and use the branding materials provided by Samaritans Purse
put it in front of them – just whatever normal paths your customers take in your building, make sure your message is in that route.
set out examples for them to see
take advantage of the methods of communication you already use – email newsletters, social media, signs in locker rooms or bathrooms, info at check-in/out desk, mailed pieces, use screens in building, signage in landscaping, make it part of something your tellers, receptionist, or cashiers script.

How do we gather and collect items for shoeboxes using our current customers?

You could put out a signup sheet for categories – school supplies, hygiene, toy, clothing/accessories, surprise
Or you could actually list the items needed by quantities – 5 boxes of crayons, 1 box of markers, 5 balls, 5 cars, 5 bars of soap, 5 washcloths, 5 hairbrushes, etc, and let them put their name by what they will bring.
You could assign items by letter and they bring an item for the letter their last name starts with – a – school supply, B – brushes, C – cards, D – gloves, etc. Just make sure all your categories are covered in your letter assignments.
You could do a multi-week “drive” – so week 1 bring school supplies, week 2 – hygiene or clothing/accessories, week 3 – small toys, week 4 – craft supplies or wow items
And the default is to just have people bring suggested items and provide a big list.

What other ways could we get our customers involved in packing shoeboxes?

I think it would be cool to have a week where you set out cards, and people can write a personal note. Maybe on one side, print a generic message and include your business’s logo and address because sometimes the kids write back. But, on the front, you could leave them blank, and people could write a note to the children that will receive your boxes.
Ask them to make general donations that you can use to go purchase items to pack in the boxes or use to help ship the boxes.
Invite them to participate in your packing party. Set out tables after hours or during a “happy hour” and invite your customers to participate in boxing up the goodies everyone brought.
Or just to donate to the organization.

How should we collect items to put in the shoeboxes?

You could leave a collection box/tub by your registration or reception desk and or in the locker rooms.
If its at a desk they could hand it to a receptionist, trainer or cashier and you could set up an internal process to record as you put things in a collection tub.
But, I’ll be honest. As much as you have people write down what they did, someone will really have to just be in charge of writing it down and taking an inventory. If you did it every day and sorted as you went it would be easier from my perspective. But, you may find a once a week process to be easier. What I’m thinking is 4 tubs or so in a backroom labeled – toy, hygiene, school supply, home, wow, and then write it down on a clipboard before you put them in the tub. Then you know what is in the tub has been counted and what’s out has not.
This process of inventory should help you know where to push or put emphasis as you get closer to the end of your drive. And, some places still have school supplies and summer items out and on sale. I noticed that map pencils and crayons are still on sale at my local Walmart in a special area that I”m sure they will replace with Christmas soon.

What basic items should be on our packing list?

Remember as you talk with people about what you are doing that these are children without a Westerner’s/American mindset. One of the biggest gifts they get is the box itself. You can include home items that might be for their parent or just used in their home. While we think about a stadium cup leftover from Newk’s as another dang cup in our cabinet, that’s something they use to sort and scoop maize and rice or dip water from a well. It’s vital to cleanliness in their home where its something else we just toss away. So, pull those suggestions from the link below and give people ideas!

box – you can purchase boxes from Samaritan’s Purse, or you can get plastic shoeboxes from the dollar store, or use your own empty shoeboxes.
soap and washcloth wrapped in a plastic zipper bag
boys – ball, car, or universal character toy
girls – doll, hair accessories, play jewelry
paper – mini pad, color page, notebook paper or folder
pen, marker, pencil, map pencils, or crayons
container – plastic cup, plate, spoons, forks
art supplies, craft kit, or activity pack
something special
note to tell them they are special, thought of, and loved
check out this list of items that are not allowed, including – liquids, toothpaste, candy, glass, breakables, camo, military toys, guns or knives, evil toys, medication, vitamins, medicine, lotion

Where to find items to put in Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes?

Check out these generic tips for packing a shoebox
my go-to spot is a dollar store for most anything
Washrags – Walmart, they are the cheapest in bulk
Dollar store is cheapest for soap – you can buy the most for the least
consignment and closeout sales
Clearance aisles at Walmart and Walgreens
Bullseye zone at Target
random offers and giveaways in the mail
anything you can buy in multiples is usually better
deflated balls and a pump is one of the best gifts to send or an ethnic colored doll

Remember as you pack and pull items that while we pack these near Christmas, the children do not necessarily get them at Christmas. So, you do not have to be seasonal in your items. The box is a gift. The items are a gift. And, the gift of a shoebox is something that the whole family benefits from so think about kitchen and household items as well as toys and gifts for the child receiving the box.