Another record year for the students at Journey Middle school who just collected 125 gift-filled shoe boxes on Nov.16 that will travel to Mexico and Central America for children who live in extreme poverty.
These shoe boxes are filled with school supplies and new personal care items like bar soap, combs and tooth brushes so the children who may not have the money or supplies to go to school will now have that opportunity.
Mrs. Kiefert’s Grade 6 students have recently been studying human rights and how to be good global citizens and applied this learning in their Social Studies. Just over two weeks ago, seven students from her class came forward to encourage and present other classes a project to help kids like themselves who live in countries very different from our own. This project is Operation Shoe Box and they challenged the whole school to fill shoe boxes and the result was 125 over flowing gift-filled boxes now making the journey to needy kids.
A special thank you goes to all of Division 16 for doing this project, but in particular six very caring students, Jake Laharty, Amelia Pierce, Katie Larkin, Dawson Wristen, Alison Davis-Lecinana, Emma Puckett.
Sooke Baptist Church was the collection centre for the Sooke area for Samaritan’s Purse – Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes. This year Sooke collected 434 boxes which will be sent to boys and girls in Central America who have never received a Christmas present before.
Journey Middle school was the largest contributor with 125 boxes. There was also one family that brought in 50 boxes. Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes.