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As a part of our family’s Christmas Eve rituals we put together care kits for disaster relief or needy areas in the world. One year we put together 300 school kits. It was fun and even the young grandkids got involved. We set up an assembly line and each person filled the kit with an item: pencils, crayons, paper, eraser, etc.
We all felt good inside when we saw this huge mountain of 300 kits which would give children somewhere in the world the items they needed for school.
To make this activity even more fun, one year we made the collecting of the items for the kits into a contest. We divided the family into three groups. Each group had a list of items which they needed to find and buy, and the first team back with a completed list won a prize.
To help us with kit creation, we get guidance from the Church World Service (“CWS”) ministry’s Kits Program. CWS has created a PDF that provides information on how to make up various kits, such as School Kits, Baby Care Kits, Hygiene Kits and Emergency Clean-Up Kits. Download the Church World Service: Kits Program PDF to get started.
Our family chooses to create kits during Christmas, but a kit project could be done anytime during the year–not just at Christmas–because they are always needed.
Photo Credit: Avondale Pattillo UMC
What a wonderful idea! I personally handed several school children these school kits on a visit to Afghanistan in 2003. It was such a privilege to see the joy on the children’s faces. Thank you.