“In the midst of what we think is the worst year possible, we get the best year possible.”
That’s what Herb Mantey said upon visiting the offices of the Barrhead Leader with his wife Derra on Nov. 23, just a couple hours after packaging up all the shoeboxes donated by Barrhead and area residents for Operation Christmas Child.
The reason for this positive proclamation is because Barrhead and area donated a total of 912 shoeboxes to send off to poor families in Central America and west Africa.
That beats Barrhead’s previous record of 902 shoeboxes, which was set in 2015. (Before 2007, no records were kept.)
Herb noted that Barrhead achieved this record even when shoebox donations from other communities are down. For instance, Whitecourt’s contribution to Operation Christmas Child was 288 shoeboxes; in a normal year, they’d donate around 500.
“We have just an amazing community,” Herb added.
Operation Christmas Child is an annual campaign that was started in 1993 by Samaritan’s Purse president Franklin Graham as a way to help children in war-torn Bosnia.
As part of the campaign, Canadians package up shoeboxes with toys, school supplies and hygiene items and then send them to poor children around the world.
The Barrhead Alliance Church is one of hundreds of churches that take part in Operation Christmas Child, and as noted earlier, Herb and Derra have acted as Drop-off team leaders for 13 years.
Usually there would be a two-day packing party where volunteers take in all the shoeboxes donated by local residents and ship them off to Alberta’s processing centre, but that was impossible this year due to COVID-19.
That’s not to say there weren’t many volunteers involved in this campaign; in fact, there is a long list of businesses that helped out, such as Everyday Values, Barrhead Shoes, Barb’s Sewing, the Neerlandia Co-op and Your Dollar Store With More to name a few.
Derra said they also had a “phenomenal response” from Barrhead and area crafters who donated hand-knitten toques, mitts, scarves, sweaters and afghans.
In fact, the crafters at Hillcrest Lodge donated 733 woolen items alone, and another lady (not a Hillcrest resident) knitted 500 toques singlehandedly.
Herb said they had so many they couldn’t fit them into all their shoeboxes and they had to send six extra bags down to Calgary to be put in online shoeboxes. (See packageabox.samaritanspurse.ca for further details.)
Herb and Derra shared a quote from Hillcrest activities manager Shelley Oswald in describing this generosity from local crafters: “There is one thing this pandemic cannot stop: busy hands to share love and warmth with others.”
While those sort of items may seem out of place in warmer countries, Derra said they are appreciated in areas where the nights grow cold and in mountainous regions.
“Even in the really warm countries, they say that they really appreciate the toques and mitts when they ride on the motorcycles,” Herb added.
Derra and Herb said they want to thank the community for their participation and for making 2020 a banner year.
“Each box makes a difference in a child’s life,” Herb said. “Thank you for showing love to children around the world.”
