SOME FINAL STATISTICS AND THANKS

Thank you all for reading the blog. I am sure you will want to join me in thanking Jenny Winter for all her hard work in putting the blog together. When you were all leaving the warehouse to go home for a hard earned rest (or to wash soft toys, or wrap shoeboxes, or buy soap!), Jenny was rushing home to write the blog. She was greatly encouraged by all your feedback.

People read the blog from 13 countries around the world. Not surprisingly the vast majority were from the United Kingdom. However we also had readers from USA, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, China, Philippines, Denmark, Sweden, Isle of Man and Australia.

Most entered using their computer, but 10% used their iPads and 10% used their phones. Most came via the blogspot address, but we also had a lot of people finding us on Facebook and the Samaritan's Purse web-site.

....and, more importantly, our final number of shoeboxes sent from the GU postcode area was 14,751, that's 14,751 happy children.

The number was nearly 10% down on last year when our final total was 16,326, and was similar to reductions elsewhere in the country.

The Final Despatch for 2012

Well Monday was THE final day. The day the lorry came and was packed up by our trusty volunteers ready to start its journey to Bosnia. However, first we had more shoeboxes, Ellie and Steve arrived with even more. They have collected so many over the three weeks and you can see the delight on people's faces as they hand their precious shoeboxes over.

 Ellie and Steve on their collections.

Poor Carolyn sadly could not make it, as she was still unwell which is a shame with this being her last year heading up the GU operation. After her trip to New Zealand next year she will no doubt be back to be part of the team. Heather claims she can't swim but with Carolyn's absence this year she was truly thrown in at the deep end in taking on one of the key roles. She kept afloat admirably. 

Heather 

STOP PRESS Honeymoon in Bosnia, yes this bride and groom were found all cosy in a shoebox. Today they leave to go on their journey together, it can therefore only be their honeymoon. Whether they were put there or are stowaways we wish them well for their future lives together in their new home. 

So the lorry arrives and with so many helpers it took only an hour to load up and in our usual fashion it is packed so that not even a cigarette paper can be put between the cartons. How many cartons you may ask? ...... 1013 which equates to 10,314 shoeboxes to be added to our earlier consignment which is making its way to Kyrgyzstan as I write. No wonder we are proud of ourselves. 

Every year we have a collection of goodies for our driver who is normally from Eastern Europe. This year was no exception and we managed with everyone's generosity to have, not one, but two boxes for him, ranging from baked beans to luxury chocolate biscuits, Being quite young (his own words) too young he thought to be married, he didn't have a wife and children to take the goodies back to. We are sure he will share with his family as there is so much there. 

POSTSCRIPT: Hot off the press! One of our volunteers, Malcolm Gates, is featured in this week's Alton Herald after he make a shoebox collection from Andrews Endowed School in Holybourne, where he was a pupil many years ago.

Thank you to everyone who took part this year, gave their time and effort to support such a worthwhile cause. See you all next year!

..

Nearly Done and Packing Up

Well, it has really been a fantastic three weeks. Everyone has worked really hard but has also enjoyed every moment of it. We have seen old friends and made new ones along the way.

Marianne popped in too, at a very useful time!










When at the start we thought shoebox numbers would be well down we find we are not far off  last year's total. However, although we are tired we feel extremely proud of our worthwhile achievement and it is sad too to be packing up and saying those goodbyes.




Sad to see the tables once buzzing with people chatting and full of boxes are now empty and bare.

Happy to see all those cartons ready packed up full to bursting with shoeboxes waiting for the lorry to arrive on Monday, when it will be packed to the brim and start the long journey to Bosnia.

Sad to see the pile of shoeboxes that did not get covered and filled with goodies, they look like that discarded Christmas tree you see in late January where a month before was loved and decorated now abandoned and totally redundant.








The lorry arrives on Monday and that will be the end of this years blog, thank you for taking the time to log in and read about Operation Christmas Child in the GU area. Thank you for all of you who helped make it happen by coming along to work and making up shoeboxes.

Shoeboxes start their journey to Kyrgyzstan....

What a special day! Wednesday was the day the container arrived at our warehouse to be packed up with shoeboxes, starting their long journey to Kyrgyzstan, which is over land and sea. Then once  in Kyrgyzstan they travel over bumpy, almost impassable roads and tracks to finally reach their destination in the various places identified by our partners locally. Of course this will take several months but will arrive by their New Year in March.

The container was huge. In fact it could not get into the building but it could reverse right up to the door, allowing us to move the cartons up to the edge of the vehicle and load it from there.

Ted whilst not helping at all, took centre stage in supervising the loading.

What a lot of hands we had which made the work far easier and, with the mix of enthusiasm, before we knew it, the container was full to the brim and ready for the start of the journey.

Ted once again, looked on and thought, "Yes I am going to Kyrgyzstan so I'd better jump in there". But no Ted your job is not done yet, besides there is room for some more cartons.

Carolyn thanked everyone for their dedication and hard work, not only for this year but also for the previous years in which she has led Operation Christmas Child. She spoke of how far the operation had come, from the small room in the YMCA ten years ago when they very proudly checked 2000 boxes, to the big warehouse of today, where 13,000 boxes have been checked and packed already this year. Carolyn also chose this time to announce that she would no longer be leading the team as she felt it was her time to move on, she also has family ties and has planned to go New Zealand to see her son next year. Everyone was saddened to hear she will be leaving. However, in doing so she leaves an amazing team who will continue her work as she has inspired each and everyone over the years. Carolyn also announced that Heather and Jenny would be taking over for future years.

Andrew Wheeler, the Minister from St Saviour's Church in Guildford, came down to bless the boxes and send them off on a safe journey, praying that each box will reach the right child who will enjoy their box and feel the love that has been sent with them.

Everyone posed for the final picture with the full container. It is always a happy and emotional stage of the process, knowing all the work done is finally complete and the next time the shoebox is opened a young, happy and smiling face will be looking into it with wonder and amazement and all the gifts it contains, some not believing that all those gifts are just for them. "What all for me, all of them?" one child asked when opening their box.



Ted finally found out who he was today, well sort of! His name was revealed as William. We asked "The Bear Garden" to pick three names - they chose William Lilly Rubin - so whilst he is pleased he has a name, he is still left somewhat confused and a little surprised, Lilly! He may not mention that in company.

The lucky winner of Ted's sorry William ****y Rubin's name was Ann Cowan. Here she is with the newly named William, a princely name!

That is not his last job, it is by no means over, in fact his most important job is yet to come. Ted is destined to go to Kyrgyzstan with Jenny where he will have to find a child who is in need of something to love. A huge task indeed how will he choose?

Fire...fire!

 Yesterday was an exciting day with the container coming to take lots of boxes off to Kyrgyzstan and Ted being named. This will be reported in the next blog.


Meanwhile......if you recall Monday when Wendy and Barbara were seen putting out a fire, what we didn't know was that there is a fire chief too, we'll be safe in the warehouse no matter what!

I hope you have enjoyed the blog so far, we're not finished yet though!!!  Through the weeks we've tried to show you a variety of crafts, activities, fun and people, including visitors. Some jobs however, can get over looked as the people who do them are not around all the time.

Two such people are our Finance helpers Colin and Sue Harris. Colin and Sue come in towards the end of each day and collect all the donations. They then spend each evening dealing with the cash, cheques and online donations. We have found donations in boxes given in pennies so it is some task.

This job also means dealing with the associated paperwork, going to the bank each day and paying it all in. It is a time consuming job and we really appreciate them both, even if they are not the most popular people with the bank..... all those coins!

More beautifully dressed Barbie Dolls came in this week. They start with no clothes and hair in a mess but they leave perfect with two sets of clothes. Not forgetting the boys action men too kitted out with their trendy clothes.... yes two sets of course.

A THANK YOU NOTE

Jenny has just received the following email following the visit of a Primary School yesterday to the warehouse. It's great to see other people "catching the bug"!


Hi Jenny,

I just wanted to personally thank you for making the children and the adults feel so welcome yesterday at the warehouse. The kids raved about the visit the whole way home and even one of the parents sent a thank you email into the school this morning as her daughter was so impressed with the visit it was all she talked about when she got home from school yesterday.

I am truly inspired by what you do and the effort it takes to run Operation Christmas Child. I would very much like to keep in touch and I am really looking forward to hearing about your trip in March. I walked away with lots of ideas of how we can promote the shoe boxes next year within the school and I am making it my personal mission to get over 100 boxes! 

I would also like you to keep me in mind for when the warehouse opens next year as I would love to take some time off work and volunteer to help out and help work through the mountain of shoe boxes. I can even do some pick ups local to the area.

Thanks
Tracey

Warehouse Flooded.....by Shoeboxes

Today in the warehouse shoeboxes continued to come in from the whole GU area. Thankfully we were once again supported by all our wonderful volunteers, who work very hard to check the boxes that just seem to keep coming in. Always time for a photo opportunity too of course, here is the GU area "workers' wave".

It's a fantastic atmosphere in the warehouse, people from many walks of life working together for one cause and really enjoying what they do.



It brings joy to us all to see just some of the special things that people have put into boxes. Our volunteers have to check boxes to ensure that they are fair for each child and that they conform to customs' and country regulations.

 Firstly there are the boxes themselves, some beautifully hand-decorated. Here are some wrapped in plain paper but look at all those stickers! They do the job of transforming the boxes into ones that no child could resist.






Some with letters, notes or drawings in them. Some children even want to send photos of themselves.  Some want to tell the child who will receive the box a bit about their life, school and family here in England.
This letter says "Deire frened I have gave this to you because I want you to be my frened I hope you like it I am 8 yeres oled love Sacha". 







Some want to draw a picture. Some even tell them what they look like and to be certain to get the message through draw a picture of themself. This one says:
"Dear Friend I hope you like the box of gifts, I really enjoyed choosing them. I am 9. I have brown hair and blue eyes. I have lots of freckles. I love climbing trees and playing with my friends. Happy christmas! Love Bethany".

On the back of Bethany's letter she has drawn a picture of herself...freckles included!

 Others just want to send love and kindness, knowing that they have a friend whom they may never meet but still want to share some joy with.

Yesterday we heard about the new Ted who will have a Russian name. Let's introduce him. Here is Margaret (holding Ted) and Yvonne. Yvonne came to the warehouse for the first time this year but promises to come back.







Also promising to come back next year are Sharon, Charmaine, Marj and Kim, all from Lakeside Primary School. They have been every Monday and this week brought with them 38 boxes. They want the the whole school involved in making shoeboxes next year, well done and thanks to them all.












After a flurry of visitors yesterday we had a relatively quiet day by having only one group in. This was Haslemere Preparatory School. They also brought in boxes and we gave them a tour, showing them what happens to their boxes and where they go.







As usual they were keen to help and whilst they were a little young to check boxes, they were still very keen to unload their mini bus, look inside the boxes and carry the checked boxes over to Gerard and his team for packing.



Another good job done.