In the Spirit of the Season, Student Athlete Advisory Committee fills 78 boxes for Operation Christmas Child

Well done, SAAC members, and all who donated! Our hats are off to you.

For the 10th annual event, members of the Saint Joseph’s College Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) gathered and packed items for Operation Christmas Child, a global Christmas gift exchange project operated by Samaritan’s Purse.

The Saint Joseph’s SAAC, which features representatives from each of the Monks’ athletic team, gathered on Sunday, November 7th to fill shoeboxes with toys and other items that will be shipped to less fortunate children, ages 2-14, in multiple countries around the world.

The student-athletes assembled the boxes, which were filled with items such as washcloths, socks, hair accessories, toy cars, stuffed animals, pencils, crayons, coloring books, bouncy balls, and various other items – with every item having been donated by SAAC members and SJC athletic programs.

With the help of Committee Advisor Tiffany Miller-Gagnon and Committee Assistant Advisor Megan Dunlap, the SJC SAAC members assembled 78 total boxes (6 more than last year). Their contribution was added to the shipment made by Royal Ridge Church of God in Scarborough, Maine. Samaritan’s Purse provides a tracking feature so the SJC SAAC members will learn where each package was sent.

Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in simple, hands-on mission projects. According to the Samaritan’s Purse website, the mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The amount of items received by the SAAC members was overwhelming. Therefore they were also able to donate two bags to Operation Christmas Child.

Why They Do It

For Tiffany Miller-Gagnon, a longtime member of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC), and the Head Athletic Trainer here at Saint Joe’s, community kindness starts with something as small as a shoe box.

“I got involved with Operation Christmas Child a long time ago through my church, and thought that it would be a great project for the students here at Saint Joe’s. It’s incredible to see students take initiative and take time from their already busy schedules to fundraise, shop, and distribute items to those in need.”

After being involved personally with Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization, through her own church, Tiffany introduced Operation Christmas Child (a project of Samaritan’s Purse) to the Saint Joe’s community. Operation Christmas Child provides shoeboxes filled with small toys, hygiene items, and school supplies. These gifts are shipped outside the United States to children affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, famine, and disease; and to children living on Native American reservations in the U.S.

For ten years now, with guidance from Tiffany, the SAAC has donated their time and effort to Operation Christmas Child with growing success each year. “Operation Christmas Child has become our largest service project, and every year I’m excited to see the students surpass the amount of donations they were able to make the previous year. The first year we took part in Operation Christmas Child we were able to donate six boxes. That number has continued to steadily progress from six, to 12, to 40, and now this year we were able to donate 78 boxes to four countries.”

SAAC is made up of 1-2 student athletes from each Saint Joe’s athletics team. Students are nominated by their coaches for the committee, and then each student completes an application and is interviewed. Students are chosen based on the application and interview process, as well as recommendations from their coaches.

During Operation Christmas Child, SAAC students are responsible for providing all contents of the boxes. To do this, they work with their team to raise money, go out and shop for the gifts, and put the boxes together and make sure they are shipped on time. This year, the SAAC was not only able to fill 78 boxes, but they also were able to donate two extra bags of toys.

⇒ See photos of them assembling the packages