Day 13 - Mildly busy!!!

What do you call a day where there were over 1200 boxes delivered, 2 van loads of cartonned boxes collected and stored, 2 school visits including a Special Needs school, a film crew working on next year's OCC DVD, several new volunteers, lots of bags of donations, and specially made OCC cup-cakes for coffee time??

Answer - just another day at the GU area warehouse!!



The day began with a visit from St Nicholas School, when 3 parents and their children came with the school's shoeboxes and had a tour of the warehouse.



Carolyn & Jenny with the Henry Tyndale students



Shortly after, the minibus arrived from Henry Tyndale School and the students, each with Special Needs, helped unload their shoeboxes onto the ever growing pile of unchecked boxes. The students were very proud to show all the things they had put in their boxes and several of our volunteers spent time with them individually and gave them a short tour.



Part of the joy in receiving the donated filler items, is hearing the stories behind the donations and how people have come to give so generously. Some people explain their connections with various organisations that have, in turn, given generously. Others tell of buying regularly throughout the year and building up stock just for the 3 week campaign. Often the donors are aware of the ideal items for a shoebox and come with loaded bags of just the right items, often at just the right time. And occasionally, a story is simply a miracle, like this one.

As a result of a mild stroke the friend of one of our volunteers had lost most of the use of her hands, and physiotherapy was having little effect. It was suggested to her that knitting may help, and despite struggling at first, she persevered and amazingly has just donated 126 hats that she has made. Her hands are so improved that she now knits regularly, can make hats at the rate of one a day and delights in being able to help and be useful.

Today's filler also has a story behind it. These lovely barbie dolls were beautifully dressed by a close friend of another of our volunteers. This lady particularly enjoyed knitting the clothes with such detail and dressing them in co-ordinating outfits. Sadly, she has since passed away, but it is lovely to think that her legacy of so many wonderful dolls will be treasured by the children who receive them.

It is truly amazing how this campaign touches so many lives and not just the lives of the children and families living abroad.



OCC cupcakes - yum!



Time for a coffee break? - How about a delicious cupcake decorated in Christmas colours of gold, silver, red or green and they really are as tasty as they look. Many thanks Lynne - (and for all cupcake fans out there Lynne does have her own business, so place your orders now!)

Today's volunteer hopefully did not miss out on the cupcakes, as he was out in the van collecting boxes this morning. Richard Paxton has been volunteering at the warehouse for 3 years now, although he had given shoeboxes for many years through his work. Previously, he has helped with packing the cartons and this year has added van driving to his repertoire. This, he says, is really rewarding as it is lovely to visit so many schools and churches where the local children have been involved in giving to children far away. For him, the fact that you can be involved with the campaign at so many levels is something that he finds really attractive and quite unique.

So with the warehouse in full swing, and with volunteers busy at every table, a team arrived from Harvest Church, Alton. They brought 500+ shoeboxes with them that had been donated at the weekend's services. And as a first for the GU warehouse, they also brought a film crew!

Next year's OCC DVD will follow the role a church can play in the overall campaign and the crew were filming the next stage of the journey for the church's shoeboxes. They will continue filming in the new year on a distribution trip to Swaziland, where Pastor Simon of Harvest Church is part of the team. It was great to have the film crew with us today and we'll certainly be watching next year's film very carefully to see who we can spot!

and Ted - did he get caught up with the idea of potential fame??? Not at all, he was helping his Kyrgyzstan travel mate Christine with banding up the coloured pencils. Well done Ted, good job!



Ted and Christine at work



See you tomorrow!