One of the very coolest things about using coupons (besides saving crazy amounts of money on groceries) is being able to give back and donate to charity. I’m sure those of you who have an abundant stockpile built up probably already donate a lot to local food banks and shelters, and hopefully those of you who are just learning to use coupons will continue that trend.
One of my favorite organizations is Operation Christmas Child (OCC), which I’m sure lots of you have heard of. OCC sends shoeboxes filled with toys, candy, & toiletries to kids in need around the world. Although it may seem like just a small thing, he impact these boxes have on so many children who literally have nothing is life-changing.
Last year Princess and I filled 10 boxes, and this year, with a little help from Trouble too, our goal is to do 15. We truly hope you will join us! It is a great project to do with your kids–you can even track your boxes to see where they end up–and it is also a fun personal challenge to see how many boxes you can fill using coupons.
National collection week is November 14-21. There are drop-off locations all over the country, so click this link to find one near you. Many of these locations also provide free boxes that you can use to fill!
Here are some ideas for things to fill your box:
- Small toys, puzzles, & games (look for clearance deals or save McDonalds Happy Meal toys)
- Candy (no chocolate–Halloween is a great time to find super candy deals!)
- Clothing (look for post-summer clearance deals on t-shirts & tank tops right now!)
- Stuffed animals
- Toothpaste & toothbrushes (free almost every week with coupons)
- Deodorant (often free with coupons)
- Bar soap
- Gum (often free with coupons)
- Crayons, markers, pens & pencils
Get Printable Instructions & Box Labels Here
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The holiday season will be here before we know it, and sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of it all that we forget about what’s really important. I want to encourage you all to give some thought now, before it all gets so crazy, to ways you can make a difference this year.
I hope you will commit to doing at least one box, or, if OCC isn’t for you, then commit to giving back in some other way, big or small this year. Leave a comment below to share your commitment to do something & on November 21st I will pick to lucky winners to each receive $50 of FREE product coupons, including:
- FREE Kidfresh Products
- FREE Fast Fixin or Fast Classics product
- FREE Steak-EZE Product
- FREE Freschetta Product
- FREE Cool Juice Products
- FREE Udi’s Gluten Free Products
- FREE Keebler Products
Affiliate links may be used in this post. Printing a coupon or ordering a product through this link may result in a commission, which helps pay for the cost of running this site and keeps the content free. Read my full disclosure policy here.
Tanya October 4, 2011 at 4:20 pm
I love Operation Christmas Child and I try to put together a box every year. Thanks for your suggestions about what to include, and what to get with coupons. I will start looking for bargains now, instead of waiting until the last minute like I usually do!
Malinda October 4, 2011 at 4:35 pm
This sounds like a great charity! My goal is to donate at least 5 boxes
Thank you for the idea and the info!
Tiah October 4, 2011 at 4:40 pm
This is such a cute idea!! At our church we have a Christmas tree with ornaments, and on the back of the ornaments are names, genders, and ages of all children in our area whose family can’t afford gifts. We always take two to start with (because we have two kids) so we’re trying to teach our kids to give back to the community. If there are any left we try to take the rest, or as many as we possibly can so that no child has to go without. It hard sometimes, because things are tight for our family as well, but you just have to make it work. It’s so worth it.
I’ve been a stay at home mother for a while now, but one of the businesses that I worked at would adopt a family, and the whole firm would pool money, and we’d go buy clothes and gifts for everyone in the family, and then buy them a HUGE Christmas day meal with all the fixin’s. What a great feeling.
Suzanne October 4, 2011 at 4:54 pm
I love Operation Christmas Child and am excited that I can do even more boxes this year. I am new to couponing but am glad that I will be able to do more boxes because I can get things for free or almost free to fill them
Samantha October 4, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Every year I do a toy drive with my office everyone brings in toys to our Christmas party and I usually donate them to Toys for Tots, the owner of our company usually goes to Walmart and loads up the back of his truck with toys for the drive as well! Its always a lot of fun. I LOVE the idea of OCC and I think I will try to incorporate this in this years drive! I will ask everyone to bring in small toys and I will donate all the Hygiene items I have more than enough to share! Thanks so much for posting about this I think its GREAT!!!
heidi October 4, 2011 at 4:57 pm
This sounds Awesome and there is a drop off center only about 8 miles from us, my family would love this and are goal will be 6 boxes. Thanks for sharing : )
heather October 4, 2011 at 5:01 pm
Ruth!! This is such a great idea!!! I don’t have children ( am only 26) but I always try to give back to children during the holidays but was not aware of this program, I usually donate toys and books to Toys for Tots and although I will still do that this year. I am definitely going to do this as well!! As a recipient of donations one year for Christmas, I can attest to the happiness this can bring to a child, I will always remember receiving Karen Two Two-little sister book which I devoured and read all through the month of january that year, am now a life long baby-sitter club and little sister fan!! I have every.single.one!! So I am forever grateful, my goal will be 9 boxes since 9 is my favorite number!
jessi October 4, 2011 at 5:26 pm
I am excited to be able to use my stockpile items to help in this project….I am not sure yet how many I can do but I hope to do at least 5
Kate October 4, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Thank you for sharing this. I was having the WORST day until I read about these boxes. I’ll definitely put some together. I don’t have kids but I have a nice stock pile to pull from for an older girl/boy, and I’ll enjoy shopping for the rest.
Thank you again….this really put everything into perspective today.
Sherri October 4, 2011 at 6:33 pm
I always donate to the local shelter for abused women. Many of them have children, and leave home with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They are always appreciative of any thing they get, especially at the holidays.
Kelsey October 4, 2011 at 6:36 pm
This year we’re planning on giving through the Tree of Joy (picking ornaments that have the age/gender of child & has their gift wish on it). We adopted our 2 and 4 yr old last year and our impulse on our first Christmas together was to SPOIL them rotten-which we did-but this year we’d like to start teaching them about giving back. I know they would love to help pick a gift out for a child their own age!
Dawn McKenna Reeves October 4, 2011 at 6:46 pm
What a great idea! I’ve just gotten back into couponing after a year or so away, and this is a great way to teach my six year old twins, Matthew and Rebecca, not only the value of couponing but the joy of sharing. We’re going to do a box for each twin, letting Matthew do a box for a boy and Rebecca a box for a girl. It’ll be great fun and really bring some extra meaning to our Christmas season! Thanks so much!
katie October 4, 2011 at 7:04 pm
Instead of getting my nephews gifts we take them to the dollar store and they get to fill a box. We take them to a special dinner afterward. It was a lot of fun last year!
Leah October 4, 2011 at 8:05 pm
We love, love, LOVE Operation Christmas Child. We had so much fun collecting little things throughout the year for our OCC boxes! We have collected clearance items, kid meals toys, made little things like softies and crayon rolls, and got a few neat things with coupons.
We had the best time starting packing our boxes last weekend, my boys, 4 and 2, were way excited to help.
Ricki October 4, 2011 at 8:11 pm
Scrunci products were on sale or clearance several times this year. I bought pony tail holders, head bands, small hair brushes and combs to go in my boxes.
karin jones October 4, 2011 at 8:23 pm
We do Toys for Tots every year. It’s so great to get my son involved. He loves giving as much he loves to receive!!
Angela October 4, 2011 at 10:02 pm
So glad to see you highlighting this wonderful charity. Each member of our family packs a box.
Roxana October 4, 2011 at 10:22 pm
I love this idea! I have three kids and I plan on getting each one of them to do a box. I also am going to talk to my childrens schools and see if we maybe able to set something up for at least my children’s classes to do boxes.
Tonya October 4, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Ruth, that is a great idea! We always help at the local school resouce center. They are really good about making sure that ALL kids in the school that need it get a complete Christmas. They give new clothes, shoes, socks, toys and food for the holidays. This year our goal is to help them take care of as many families as we can. We live in a rural area where most of these kids really do need clothes, school supplies and the list goes on and on. Christmas is defiantly a time of giving and most importantly for everyone to appreciate what they have and give what they can.
Janell October 4, 2011 at 11:24 pm
When you drop off the boxes, do you need to pay $7 for each box for shipping? I’m new to this but want to have my three children make one.
michelle October 5, 2011 at 12:18 am
I kinda feel bad but this was my first time hearing about Operation Christmas Child and my family and I are so excited to help out this year. We hope to do at least 10 boxes this Christmas. We actually adopted to boys who are brothers from Ukraine 8 years ago they where 9 and 4 at the time we brought them home and from our personal experience we know there are so so so many children in the world that would LOVE to recieve the boxes and we would just love to help. Thank You for posting this today it really just brightened my day. We always donate to different charities but this one really is close to all our hearts in my family.
Thank You!
Elizabeth October 5, 2011 at 12:41 am
I am a preschool teacher and each year I plan a field trip in December to buy a tree for a family that can’t afford one. We usually get four between our two classrooms. We live near many military bases and give them to enlisted families. We also donate toys to the families. Our school also does Angel Tree each year (among many other charitable things throughout the year). I was unaware of the OCC and may add it to our holiday plans!
melissa call October 5, 2011 at 2:46 am
Thank you! ( I say this a lot to you) I am going to do this with my daughter, and I’m going to print your blog and the instructions and bring it to work to see if my unit would like to participate as well.
Tasha October 5, 2011 at 2:50 am
I commit to do OCC this year with my two sons. My husband and I always talk to them about giving back and this is the perfect opportunity. I haven’t heard of this organization before. I am looking forward to digging in to my stock pile and purchasing some other goodies. Not sure how many we will fill but we will be doing it! Thanks for the suggestion!
Michelle October 5, 2011 at 3:02 am
What a nice thing you do with your family! I hope to do something like this also. I’m thinking I will participate in OCC this holiday season. Thanks for the ideas on what to put inside.
Joy October 5, 2011 at 3:38 am
My family and I love OCC! Each child fills a shoebox with fun items for a child their age and I fill them with “mom” items– toothpaste/toothbrush, washcloth/soap. The kids are always have a great time trying to imagine what the child receiving the box might think about their first Christmas present. This really helps my children to appreciate the many gifts they receive during the year, especially at Christmas. They also experience the joy of giving to others.
Marla October 5, 2011 at 4:03 am
Through Couponing, Clip with Purpose and Shopping clearance sales I have gone fro last year packing 8 shoeboxes to this yea having at least 108. Coupons have let me get much of the soap and toothpast for the boxes for free. Its awesome how you can get nicer things for free or cheaper than what you think is cheap at Dollar Stores and the like. I got vibrating Oral B toothbrushes free after rewards and coupons. I still need about 40 tubes of toothpaste especially for kids, but I would not have been able to donate in this way without using coupons.
Shaina October 5, 2011 at 4:15 am
I love this! I will definitely be filling some boxes. I work with developmentally disabled children, and so I will also bring in some boxes for them to fill too!
Kelley October 5, 2011 at 12:24 pm
This is the first year my family and I are packing shoeboxes and we’re so excited! My 3 year old daughter picks things out at the store and says “can this be for the girls and boys?” Since we’re already addicted, we’re looking forward to packing shoe boxes for the entire year so that next November we can bless even more kids. Thank you for this opportunity to show Christ’s love to these precious boys and girls!
Jaime October 5, 2011 at 12:47 pm
What a great idea. I’ve been looking for projects like this to do with my kids and their friends so they can see that you don’t need to get a pile of expensive gifts to have a nice holiday. Hopefully it will humble them a little. Thanks for sharing.
Danielle M October 5, 2011 at 12:57 pm
We always do the Angel Tree at our daughters school but I think this year we also do the OCC program. I’ve heard about it before (I think last year on this blog!) but we didn’t do it. As my girls grow up I know it’s important for them to understand that Chirstmas isn’t just about what they get but giving back. Thanks for posting the tips!!!
Ronda October 5, 2011 at 1:25 pm
My church has given to OCC for several years. About a month ago I was at an event and OCC had a booth. They suggested flip flops which you can find on clearance now. Also sending a pic of your family & writing a letter to the child. I am doing 5 boxes. Last year our church did about 50 boxes.
Erin October 5, 2011 at 1:39 pm
I love this idea and will pledge to do 10 boxes.
Indy October 31, 2011 at 6:09 am
Shiver me timbers, them’s some great infrmaoiton.
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starbucksgirl October 5, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Hey Ruth!
Thanks for the reminder about Operation Christmas Child 2011. We will be filling some boxes this year too. Just an FYI that I picked up my box from Chick-Fil-A last year. Not sure if they are all participating but I would imagine that many of them have boxes in their restaurants for you to take home and then drop off.
BTW, I am in your neck of the woods for the next few weeks. We are staying about 1.5 hours from you in Treasure Island, FL. Holler at me if you want to get together for a fun day of hanging out and talking about coupons. I can drive down to visit with my girls.
You can email me at starbucksgirl@hotmail.com. Have a great day!
PS – Watched your segments on wink. Nice job.
Amy October 5, 2011 at 4:18 pm
This is an awesome idea! I will be doing this for sure.
Carola October 5, 2011 at 4:59 pm
We love OCC! For several years, our family donated a tractor-trailer to haul collected shoe boxes in our area to a distribution center. It was always such a blessing to help! One thing we do, we purchase the plastic shoe storage boxes to use for our donation. It makes for a re-usable gift for the child…and it is even better if you use the ones with an attached lid. TIP: always put a large rubber band around your gift box, do not tape it shut as it will have information inserted when handled at the distribution center! God Bless You as You Bless His Little Ones!!!!
Lisa October 5, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Thanks for the great reminder about Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. We are “IN”.
Thanks too for all of the coupon tips and support for all of us couponers. Appreciate it!
Debbie B October 5, 2011 at 11:11 pm
Have been picking up free or really cheap (clearance) items all year. My daughter said that I had better see how many boxes I had treasures for before I bought anything else. Imagine my surprise when I had more than enough to fill 7 shoeboxes. Love OCC.
Julie October 6, 2011 at 3:22 am
I love OCC and have done it several times through my church’s community group. Last year my CG did it as their service project. We had so much fun doing it! All of us went to WalMart, Dollar Tree, Target, wherever and got a variety of things to put in boxes. We got together on a Saturday and dumped everything on the table and sorted it. We ended up making 10 boxes! We had a blast imagining the kids opening them and planning out a perfectly themed box. I can’t wait to do it this year with my growing stockpile. I already have toothpaste, toothbrushes, and gum so there’s more money to spend on toys!
Melissa October 10, 2011 at 3:19 pm
My family had an OCC packing party at my house last year and it was awesome! I already picked up my boxes from church for this year and I’m pumped to start filling them! I’m also planning on donating lots of groceries at our church’s food drive next month. Way to go encouraging others to give! What a blessing!
Clara Pearson October 11, 2011 at 12:28 am
We started doing Operation Christmas Child through our church and we love it! I felt it was very important for my own children to share blessings with those who are not as fortunate. We are trying to teach them how to work for the Lord and witness through their actions. They also adopted a little girl named Judy. I pray that all these children have a blessed Christmas and know that through the Lord all things are possible.
Stacy October 12, 2011 at 3:24 pm
I love OCC. I’m the OCC coordinater for my church. I usually hit the clearance sales after christmas when items are 75% t0 90% off. I pack it all into a container specifically for OCC. Then I finish up through out the year using coupons to get must need items like soap, toothpaste etc… I cry everytime I watch the videos, it makes me fill so good that a child somewhere in the world is going to get such a blessing from recieving one of these boxes.
Monica October 12, 2011 at 10:21 pm
My daughter (who will be 12 by the time we send the boxes out) and I are so excited to be able to do more than one box this year. Last year we were only able to do one box for OCC, but since I realized the full potential of “super” couponing, we have been saving things since February to do four boxes for the program. Hopefully each year we can raise the number of boxes we are able to send. Thanks so much for featuring such a great program (and providing a great giveaway to go along with it)!
Cheryl October 13, 2011 at 9:28 pm
We have done OCC since the first year. Some years we do dozens, some years just one per family member. My favorite store to shop at for OCC all year round is CVS. We have enjoyed receiving letters from some of our shoe box children over the years. This year will be no different, my dining room table is once again covered with all the goodies we have collected over the year and we will tally up what is still needed and fill in the blanks.
Lisa October 14, 2011 at 6:21 pm
My 3 year old, Evan James, and I will create boxes together this year for the first time. I want to teach him how blessed we are and how important it is to help others.
Martha October 21, 2011 at 2:07 pm
My 2 kids and I are excited about creating OCC boxes again this year. My daughter has been asking about making the surprise Christmas boxes for a little girl and little boy just like her and her brother! So cute to see her love the idea of giving to others.
Theresa S. October 24, 2011 at 2:10 am
Thanks so much for sharing this Ruth. I will be doing two boxes, in memory of my two little ones in heaven.
Lily P. October 24, 2011 at 12:21 pm
This sounds like a great idea for me to do with my 8 year old daughter. She likes to do little projects with me and is generous with kids in need.
ilze n. October 28, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Thanks for sharing… I’ve been hearing the gentle tug at my heart to do something for quite some time… when you first psoted this I knew why my heart has been readied to give. The this past Sunday our church talked about OCC as one of the ways to give back this year… so I’ve been purging my home this week! finding all the nealry free toothpastes, and deeply discounted shirts with tags on, and allocating the hard candy that comes in from trick-or-treating to our gooddy box. I’ve asked fmaily and friends who do not want to pack boxes and fool with all that to sponser the $7 a box… for each box I get sponsored I’d like to commit and a box out of my own pocket… so here’s to seeing how many boxes He thinks we can handle!
Pat October 29, 2011 at 3:25 am
There are so many ways to give back. I have been packing Operation Christmas Child boxes for years. I put back items all year. I also like to remember those in the older age group. There are so many in nursing homes that are lonley and forgotten. I make walker buddies and collect personal care items during the year with coupons. Many of the items are free or nearly free. Walmart donated a 12 foot tree to Nursing home and our church ladies go and decorate it. They love it . We have many Hallmark decoration that bring back memories of days gone by. (Elvis, I Love Lucy, ect) as well as traditional decorations. We collect lap throw, denture cream, walker buddies, lotion, shaving cream, razors, chap stick, nail polish, lip stick, neck rolls, word search, Christmas cards and personal care items. None of us want this to happen to us, but neither did they. We must remember to honor and respect the one who have make our lives possible. We all know someone we can share with all during the year.
Claire November 14, 2011 at 8:39 pm
What a great post! As we have done since my oldest was little, my three boys make out their Christmas lists. I remind them that we also have to give back and help others in order to receive new toys for Christmas. We then we go into each of their rooms and I have them pick out any and all gently used toys and books that they really aren’t using much (I think we all know how much unnecessary “stuff” we acquire every year, birthday gifts that are hardly touched, etc!) and we put them in a box. Sometimes this takes some convincing for certain toys, but they are reminded that we simply cannot have new things if we aren’t really using what we already have and that some children have nothing at all to play with. I add in holiday candy and toiletries to the boxes (I have been stockpiling my free and almost free items for months for this!). Then we take the boxes filled with toys and toiletries to our city’s Rescue Mission. This charity provides housing and shelter for women and children who have been forced out of their homes either due to abuse or a financial hardship.
Melissa N November 14, 2011 at 10:01 pm
I have a small preschool in my home with my daughter and 3 others. This year I wanted to get them much more involved in the giving process. I had them watch the video of Op Christmas Child and talked to them all about what we could do for another little girl who lived far away. They got to pick off of the list of what they wanted to bring to fill the box. Then they all helped pack it. Which they totally loved! We will use the tracking option so they can see where the box will end up. But my favorite part are the prayers. Each one gets to take a turn everyday to pray for the little girl who will receive the box. So cute to hear them ask God to watch over and bless our Christmas Child.
violeta October 30, 2012 at 12:48 pm
our family of six participate in occ every year, we fill two boxes, the boys fill for a boy, the girls fill for a girl