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Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Working Mommy Wednesday

Welcome to a new week of Working Mommy Wednesday. Today's prompts are:

Are problem solving skills used at work useful at home with the family? Or vice versa?
Share a cause you enjoy supporting.
Today I'm going to write about a favorite cause I enjoy supporting. It's Operation Christmas Child which is run by Samaritan's Purse.

The objective is simple - fill a shoebox with Christmas gifts for a child who lives in a poverty stricken country. Drop box off at a church. Box get's delivered in time for Christmas!

Today I assembled 4 boxes - I guess we bought at least 4 pairs of shoes this year! Actually I'm sure we bought more but these are the only boxes I managed to save.

I spent the following per box:
  • Bar of Soap $0.66
  • Toothpaste $1.66
  • Notepad $0.99
  • 2 Pencils $0.12
  • Hard Candy $0.62
  • Cost to deliver box $7.00
  • Total: $11.05
I'm a bit of a frugal nut so I've actually saved toothbrushes and combs from my hotel stays - just for Operation Christmas Child!

I still need to get some basic toys (jump rope for girls, dinosaurs for boys) but after reading this article about children in the Philippines who live near a giant garbage dump outside of Manilla, I want to get a few more useful things like socks and shirts.

It's such a small thing, a shoebox. It costs less than $20.00 to put one together. When I think of the money we spent on 4 pairs of shoes verses giving back the box with a few gifts? Well, let's just say I feel so blessed with all we've been given that this is a small price to pay for a child's happiness.

Looking forward to reading your stories this week! Please link up below so I can find you.

4 comments:

Kim said...

Sounds like a wonderful organization. It's easy to forget how blessed we are in this country.

Be Positive Mom said...

What a great cause. It's so true what Kim wrote about how we forget how blessed we are in this country. I'm sure the kids who receive the box of goodies are so excited. It's wonderful that you can find so many things to fit in ander $20. Dollar Stores have a lot of great stuff for very inexpensive. Happy Working Mommy Wednesday!

rubberbacon said...

Thanks for visiting Kim. It's so true. I'm reading a great book by Ann Voscamp that encourages one to write 1000 blessings. It's helping me be a tiny bit more thankful for all our blessings. Hope you have a fantastic day and get those kiddos used to the time change soon!!!

rubberbacon said...

Hi there! I definitely plan to hit up the dollar store for shirts and socks! Great idea and thanks for stopping by today and linking!