College News
Saintly students spread OHristmas ccmeer OAlERATION Christmas Child Appeal ALL Saints' College students worked hard to bring Christmas cheer to underprivileged children around the world by again taking part in the Operation Christmas Child Appeal. Junior and Senior School students, along with their families, collected various small items for inclusion in shoeboxes. They wrapped some of these in colourful paper in readiness for distribution by Samaritan's Purse, a non-denominational Christian humanitarian organisation. Items collected included teddy bears, soft toys, coloured pencils, soap, toothbrushes, t-shirts, caps and scarves. These items are not readily accessible to children living in certain parts of the world, but no doubt brought a smile to a child facing a bleak or sad Christmas. Operation Christmas Child started in the early 1990s when Samaritan's Purse President and Chief Executive Franklin Graham, was approached by a man in the UK. He spoke to Mr Graham about filling up shoeboxes with toys and giving them to needy children around the world. Initially, 5000 boxes were collected and distributed to children in war-torn Bosnia. Since then, the appeal has grown significantly. In 2007, 7.5 million boxes were distributed world-wide with 250,000 collected ove - all ffints' cole;je
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in Australia alone. All Saints' students have supported the appeal for several years, and 2008 was no exception with 260 boxes collected. "I am thrilled to see the All Saints' College community support the true meaning of Christmas in so many ways, for it is in giving that we receive," College Chaplain Father Braden Short said.
