Is it all worth it? Answer: Yes

Hello Packers!

     Have you guys ever had that moment while packing your boxes or shopping for your boxes and thought, "Is this even worth it?", "How do I know that this box even reaches a child?", "Am I using my spiritual gift in the right way?"? Well, I had that moment last week when I was looking at my stockpile of Barbies for my older girl boxes. I had that moment of wondering if God even liked what I was doing with my life and if I was using my spiritual gift, surprisingly it is faith according to multiple devices, according to His will.

     Conflicted with this feeling I prayed to God and I went about my day at school. When I was at school, sitting in my English class, I went to my Facebook to message my mom that my phone had died. While doing so, I came across two message requests. I felt uneasy at first because I've gotten weird message requests before so I cautiously opened one of the messages that was sent to me three days prior. When I saw it: I cried.

From a mother in the Philippines, I received four photos from a distribution. This group might have received a few of my boxes or maybe they all received my boxes. I don't necessarily know due to the fact that there wasn't any context other than "tnk you" but regardless, it brought a huge smile to my face when I saw these children.

I was of course a bit shocked at first but then attached was a copy of one of the letters that I sent. I remember this letter because on the other side is a scrapbook angel with orange curly hair. When I saw this, my heart was racing because that means that my boxes actually went somewhere. They landed in the hands of actual children and they read the letters. Seriously, packers, I was crying with happiness in my classroom.

So, already my heart was racing because I not only got to see some of my items but I got to see this wonderful boy here. I have no idea what his name is but I know that this sweet boy received one of my shoe boxes. The group of children there really made my heart flutter but knowing that this boy specifically received one of my boxes really rehabilitated that dying desire to pack boxes. This year I will only be packing 30 boxes but I think that after this year, I will continuously pack boxes until I can no longer find supplies to pack them. This image alone...I mean, this was one of my 100 shoe boxes and because it has a photo on it, this is one of them that I packed after my 50 shoe box goal last year.

I totally regretted including that verse because it was a short paraphrase of the scripture's actual meaning but it got the message across for this child. I fell in love with this photo because this child, I know his face and I know that he benefited from this box. I don't know his full situation but I do know about the Philippines as I have many friends from that country. Man, packers, this was just one of the best feelings I've ever experienced and what was really shocking to me was the fact that I finally saw these pictures after praying to God.














     This was a completely wonderful experience and this set of pictures might just be a few basic photos, but they mean so much more.

     Along with these photos, I received another separate message from a boy's sister in Albay (a province in the Philippines).

"Hi Ate Marissa my brother have already received the gift from you by the OCC His name is *************, He is already 12 years Old. He's really thankful for the gift and of course to your letter He really appreciate everything you wrote like all the encouraging words and happy thoughts there. Thank you very much may God bless you always "

     Yeah, I was bawling. My face was red and a few people probably assumed I was going through a pre-final mental breakdown but this was one of the nicest things to open my Facebook messages to. So, although we think that we might not get the boxes to those that really deserve it or we feel like the boxes aren't appreciated: they are. They truly are and it is a great feeling knowing that we are taking care of God's children all over the world.

Happy Packing! (221 Days until Collection Week starts)

Getting the Most out Your Items for OCC: Deodorant

Hello Packers!

     Something I tried to do last year and will succeed in doing this year is including deodorant in my boxes. Strange? A little bit but like any normal boy/girl on this earth, they will develop a body odor and perspire, it would be pretty cool to provide a luxury like deodorant to a child, right? If you have never considered deodorant before, it could be a nice replacement for the tube of toothpaste that we aren't allowed to give out anymore or for the candy replacement.

     Anyway, I was at my neighborhood 99 cent store and was searching through the deodorants and was shocked to find out that for the same dollar price, you can get a deodorant that is only 1 oz or 1.7 oz! I know! I thought to myself in that moment, "Wow, we usually grab items from the shelf and not even look at the ounces on them. We could be wasting our money!" With that being said, I took to the arrangement of deodorants that they had and started to look specifically at the ounces at the bottom of the containers. This is what I found:

Girls:

Alright, so I prefer Suave or Teen Spirit if I'm going to be completely honest on my own preference but this Secret bar was the one with the highest amount of ounces at 1.7 oz. I was a little shocked that that was as high as it would go for the ladies but I will take what I can get for the price.

Of course, I checked everything to make sure it was okay (smell/looks) and of course everything was fine. They had this scent which is Shower Fresh and they had another that was called Powder Fresh. I must say that the Shower Fresh had a nicer smell to it and I think that the girls that receive these deodorants will appreciate the pleasant scent. It is a solid deodorant and unfortunately I didn't read anywhere that it was an invisible dry so that is also a bit of a downfall on this deodorant. However, my mother loves Secret and has been using it for year so I believe this brand will work perfectly.

Secret Shower Fresh: 1.7 ounces





Boys:

Alright, well for some reason Blogger won't let me post my own photo so here is a photo I got from the internet. This can be compared to Speed Stick and to me, it smells pretty dang close to the original scent. I like it a lot and it is lucky for us as there are a few other deodorants at the 99 cent store that are the same amount of ounces as well if you don't want to buy this brand. I will be going with this brand for a reason that I'll tell you in just a bit.

Clear Stick: 2.25oz

Alright, so there is a reason why I chose these specific brands other than the amount of oz they carry. Did you guys know that deodorant has an expiration date? No? Well neither did I until I turned the bar around to see the lovely "exp" on the back. Of the other brands, they all expired in a few months but I wanted to get the bang for my buck so to speak and get something that I know customs won't throw out.

Boys:

 Expires October 2019

Girls: expires September 2018

Again, Blogger is making my post a bit wonky so I apologize about that. But check the expiration dates on your deodorants. As far as I know, we are still allowed to include deodorants but just to be on the safe side, check the expiration dates so we can know for sure that those items will be making it to the child.

Happy Packing!

Changes for my 2017 Boxes

Hello Packers!

     This year is going to be an interesting year for me for the boxes for 2017 because I have put a limit on myself this year...let's see how well I stick to it. This year I am limiting my boxes and will only be doing 30 boxes. I will be focusing on the boys mostly this year with a whopping 14 (10-14) Boy boxes, 1 (5-9) boxes, 3 (2-4) boys. Then 9 (10-14) girls, 1 (5-9) girl, 2 (2-4) girls. 

      What I'm doing differently this year is making more items for my boxes by hand and hoping that I will be able to reach that goal by the end of the packing season. I have been making scarves for the boxes since December and I have a long while till I have 30 scarves prepared as well as 30 hats ready as well. I'm contemplating giving two hats per box but still, as I have no idea how the boxes will look this year, I will just prepare with that thought in mind. 

     So far, I must say that I have some changes that I'm making to my boxes this year as a result of the block on candy as well as toothpaste this year on. With the money I would have spent on candy or on toothpaste, I went a bit all out on the soaps this year and will be giving each child a 7 oz bar of soap that was made right here in the United States. Each soap smells absolutely heavenly and that is something that I remember reading on another blog. The children loved the smell of the soaps because what they are used to doesn't have a scent or smells more like animal fat. I think that with as much money that I spent on toothpaste and candy last year, I think that it is more than okay for me to splurge a little bit on these necessary items. Last year I sent every child a 3.2 oz or so bar of soap that smelled clean but never really had a fruity or interesting scent. This year, the scents I'm sending smell like almond and honey, cucumber melon, and a lemon-herb scent.

     Another aspect to my boxes that I will be changing this year is the amount of school supplies I pack in the boxes. Last year toward the end of the season I started giving children 10 pencils and 6 pens, this year I will be giving each child 10 pencils and 10 pens as I know what it is like to not have that many pencils or run out of my favorite pen so in hopes of them being able to make them last, I'm giving 10 of each. I will also be including full size coloring books opposed to the thin free ones I got last year. Why? Well, to be honest, it's a combination of reasons. 1. I found them all on sale for $0.50 each this year and they are all the recycled paper kinds which is something I just love. 2. My grandmother has a woman and her two 10-16 year old children living at her house. On Christmas, they ran up to my grandmother's portion of the house and were overjoyed by what my grandmother gave them: dollar store trinkets and coloring books. These kids never really had a big Christmas before either and to know that they were overjoyed by something as simple as a coloring book, and this is coming from children in the United States, is just a reminder that kids in that age group will be pretty excited to find one too.

     My boxes this year will be relatively gender neutral for the most part but there will be a few distinct differences that will make one box for a girl and the other for a boy. One aspect that I want to tell you all about now so that you can maybe think about it for your own boxes is the inclusion of a hair brush. I know that on certain blogs it says not to include hairbrushes and to just include combs but here is my reasoning. 1. Not all boxes are headed to African nations where girls shave their heads. My boxes went to the Philippines in 2015 and they are allowed to have long hair there. 2. Even if it does go to a girl whose head is shaved, brushes can be used for multiple things and can be used to brush the fur of her stuffed animal or her pet/farm animals if she needs to.

     This year will definitely be different for my shoe boxes but the thoughts and prayers are still the same. I hope you are all enjoying your January and I'll be posting again in due time. God Bless!

Happy Packing!