Volunteers Trek to NH Motor Speedway to Support Operation Christmas Child

Local volunteers with Operation Christmas Child (OCC) took to the raceways on a recent summer weekend when they trekked to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon for a unique fund-raising opportunity.

“It was great,” said Larry Marshall, a self-described “die-hard race fan” and OCC volunteer who was instrumental in arranging the effort.

A total of 14 volunteers, most of them from Hampton Falls First Baptist Church, traveled to Loudon in mid-August, having undergone a training session at the popular race track just a week earlier.

Once there, they served as screeners, welcoming guests at the gates to the speedway and making sure that no unauthorized objects, such as glass bottles and umbrellas, were brought into the stands.

According to Marshall, the fund-raising came in the form of each volunteer “earning” seven dollars per hour in their capacity as screeners. The group put in an approximate 10-hour day.

Each hourly wage that was earned will help to process and ship a gift-filled shoe box that will eventually be given to a hurting child through Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse.

Since 1993, OCC has hand-delivered shoe box gifts to more than 86 million hurting children overseas. To make this ministry work, participants fill shoe boxes with an assortment of school supplies and toys which are then shipped and distributed to kids in some 130 countries.

Marshall’s group of volunteers earned enough funds to process and ship a couple of hundred shoe boxes, which they plan to fill with hundreds of donated items at their annual “Packing Party” in October.

“The real blessing in our eyes is more than just the money,” said Marshall. “It’s the fellowship – getting to know people from this church that I didn’t know before, and getting a new couple to join us. We also gave away some OCC material.”

That material included information about OCC’s shoe box ministry and how to pack a gift-filled shoe box; details can be found at www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.

The OCC team got rave reviews from their fund-raising partners at NH Motor Speedway.

“The track loved us,” said Marshall. “The supervisors told us we did a really good job, and invited us back for the September race.”

As far as the volunteers were concerned, “Everybody had such a great time – they really want to go back again,” said Marshall. “Something tells me this might become an annual thing.”

Filling shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child is also “an annual thing” that everyone can do – families, churches, scout troops, community groups and businesses can all take an active part.

Once the items have been purchased, simply fill the shoe boxes (cardboard or plastic) with an assortment of school supplies, toys, personal items (comb, toothbrush and toothpaste, facecloth, etc.) and, if desired, a letter of encouragement.

Then, when National Collection Week comes around (this year it’s Nov. 14 to Nov. 21), drop off the gift boxes at a collection site near you. The local collection site in this region is at the Hampton Falls First Baptist Church, located at the junction of Routes 1-88 in Hampton Falls, across from the town common.

Detailed step-by-step shoe box packing instructions are available at www.samaritanspurse.org/occ. For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call 800-353-5949 or visit samaritanspurse.org/occ.