Crackers About Christmas
By: Kirsty (aka princess24163)
Christmas is just about presents, right? WRONG! Christmas is about helping people and giving. Well, I have been doing just that this year, by holding a Christmas Cracker fete. My fabulous friends and I organized a winter fete, held in our local drama studio called Spotlight. We put up posters and handed out leaflets around the neighborhood to advertise this charitable event. We did Car Washes, held a “Feed The Old,” A Home For The Homeless, and much more. We set up sleeping bags and mattresses inside spotlight and served four meals a day for the week long event. We bought gifts and presents for all who attended. Well Done Girls!

Operation Christmas Child
By: Noelle, 12 (aka Noelle11)
OCC (Operation Christmas Child) brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes. All you have to do is go online to www.samaritanspurse.org and look for an Operation Christmas Child link. Once you have clicked on that look for an Order Materials link and click on that. Anything you get off of that link is free and will be delivered soon. You should at least order brochures since those are needed to do the OCC process. On your brochure there will be some labels and you must fill them out and attach them to your shoe boxes. You may fill them with teddy bears, hygiene items, educational toys, and even a letter to the child you’re sending it to. The box must be wrapped all the way around but must be able to be opened without being torn so individually wrap the lid and container. This must be done so that they can be checked before going to the children. Tape or glue your label to the box and send it to the address on the brochure. You must send in $7 for each box you donate. Don’t put liquids, chocolate, or war related items (knives, plastic soldiers, etc...). The annual OCC sending week is November 17-24 of each year. The box doesn’t have to be a shoe box.

REMEMBER: These boxes should be filled with things you would like. They must be new. Just imagine how happy these kids will be when they get their first Christmas present!!!

Helping Guatemala
By: annabelle, 12 (aka annabelle1010)
My fifth grade teacher was from the Philippines. But, she is very interested in Guatemala, a small country off the coast of Mexico. The people there are very poor and don’t have money for clothes, food, medical care, and schooling for their children. Every year the fifth grade class has a fiesta. There are games, food, raffles, and lots of different activities for all ages. Local businesses donated their time, money, or products and services. They also donated products for our raffles. The fiesta is a big tradition in our school. It is exciting for 5th graders because they spend a lot of time and effort getting ready. They also do a big report on Guatemala’s geography, culture, language, and history. Last year my class raised over $8000 to give to families to help pay for schooling and health care for children. I think the fiesta is fun and a good way to help out the Guatemalans.

Giving Bears To A Hospital
By: vanessa, 9 (aka vanessa168)
Well me and my school were thinking of making a difference so first we had to pick what we should give, there were lots but the school picked teddy bears. And we had to pick where we should give it to first it was the poor then it was the hospital but the school picked the hospital. So we had to think what hospital? And I said the children’s hospital. So the school picked that. There were millions of bears; the whole school had to do it. There were 2000 kids in the school and they each had to do eight teddy bears. They did not make them the school bought them. So our jobs were to attach a little note to the teddy bears. Then when the hard work was done we went on a field trip to the children’s hospital. We had to wait then this lady showed up she showed us the hospital but not where the kids were. Then this big cute teddy came he gave us all a big hug and a little stuffed animal. I will always remember that day.