Rural church packs 1,400 shoeboxes with gifts for kids around the world

Operation Christmas Child started small at rural Burgoon Baptist Church back in 1993.

Parishioners filled 26 shoeboxes with toys, school supplies and toiletries, wrapped them up in festive paper, then shipped the packages to children thousands of miles away.

This year, it was 1,400 boxes.

Bonnie Hawkins, who joined the church in 1991, is an active member of the flock. She liked the traditions established at the church, where retired firefighter Harold Godsey has been pastor 41 years, and his father for decades before that.

When members decided to join a holiday initiative sponsored by Samaritan's Purse called Operation Christmas Child, Hawkins was put in charge.

Over three decades, the international program has grown around the world, to 100 countries and 10 million shoeboxes.

Small church, big effort

The small congregation at Burgoon Baptist Church, which has 40 worshippers on a good Sunday and often as few as 20, reflects this increase in giving to children.

Their holiday mission is to bring joy and word of God's love to children thousands of miles from the rural church off Ind. 446 near Lake Monroe.

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Hawkins and other church volunteers raised $5,000 this year through yard sales and donations. They split the money, half for the Christmas gift mission and half sent to a minister in Ukraine the church sponsors.

The man's nephew, years ago, received a shoebox of gifts from Burgoon Church, forging a lasting connection.

Hawkins works year-round to purchase items and fill boxes with things children want and need. A teddy bear or baseball might be accompanied by a toothbrush, toothpaste and a bar of soap. A soft washcloth. Gloves and socks. Pencils, a sharpener, chalk, paper. A hand-written letter from a child in Sunday school.

You can compress a lot into a shoebox.

Like last year, the boxes from Burgoon Church are bound for children in war-torn Ukraine, Hawkins said. That makes the months of work worthwhile, and brings a sense of hope that there will someday be light and a future for the children there.

"You know you are making a difference somewhere, a tiny difference," Hawkins said.

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She drove a school bus for students with special needs before she retired this year, allowing more time for the holiday gift project.

"When I was driving my bus route, when I'd see a shoe box in the trash … well, it's hard to look at a shoe box in the same way after you know what all you can put in one, and what it can do for a child," she said.

Early on, she would scrounge boxes from shoe stores and department stores, a few or a dozen or a hundred at a time, like when the westside Kmart closed.

Finding a niche

Now, though, with so many needed, the church buys decorated boxes from Samaritan's Purse in bulk. It's made the process easier, she said; no searching for boxes or wrapping. They pray for the recipient of each box once it's packed.

Samaritan's Purse is a Christian charity established in 1970 that assists victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease and famine. The Charity Navigator gives the nonprofit four stars on its four-star scale rating. Churches around the globe participate in the Operation Christmas Child mission.

The week of Nov. 14-21, the hundreds of shoeboxes filled at Burgoon Church were loaded up and transported to Bloomington's Sherwood Oaks Church, one of 5,000 drop-off sites.

Crystal Rogers, media coordinator for Operation Christmas Child's mid-south Indiana region, said the church is the a main collection site, taking in 14,000 shoeboxes in 2021.

Hawkins said like many people at church, she found her niche, something that enriches her life while helping others.

"I am the person in charge of the shoebox program. Some people play piano, some sing, some preach. I stuff shoeboxes."

Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Burgoon Baptist Church packs shoeboxes with gifts for Ukraine kids