For the season of giving, Fresno Christian students pack and pray over boxes for kids around the world. Through Operation Christmas Child, the school can help less fortunate kids feel loved at Christmas time, Nov. 14.

Kindergarten through fifth grade students gather with the boxes they put together. Elementary Principal, Stacy Graves, prays over the boxes. Students line up and hand in their boxes, totaling 326 donated for 2023. Samaritan’s Purse is a non-profit that the school has been partnering with for 13 years. Operation Christmas Child is their program, which collects donated boxes from all around the nation to give to children in other countries. Samaritan’s Purse staff bring the boxes to the kids and share about the Gospel.

Retired fifth-grade teacher, Maria Lazo, has participated in Operation Christmas Child for 17 years. Her favorite part is collecting items for the boxes throughout the year, getting discounts and saving goods. She also hand-makes dresses, headbands, and hats for the boxes and prays over them. She loves how these boxes can impact kids around the world. 

Lazo also shares why Operation Christmas Child should be something to participate in and prioritize during the Christmas season.

“It’s important for those of us who have the advantage of having things (like presents for Christmas) to realize there are so many people in the world who don’t have that advantage,” Lazo said. “For us to not focus on ourselves and focus on other people. We can serve them and imagine what their faces might look like and how it can impact their whole life.”

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Giada Gilmore Young

FC elementary students help load the packed boxes into trucks so they can be sent off to bless others for the holiday season.