The Friedman family gathered Sunday afternoon to finally pack their shoe boxes of the thousands of donated items for the Operation Christmas Child project.
Almost the entire clan — along with some extended family, friends and supporters from Oakwood church totalling 25 people — spent five hours unpacking the items at the church, organizing them on tables according to age and gender and then stuffing the cartons that totalled 505 shoeboxes.
The project was under the direct supervision of 16-year-old Adair Friedman, daughter of Steve and Chris, who have a family of 11 children. Adair spent most of the calendar year going from business-to-business amassing donated products to be put in shoeboxes and sent to impoverished children all over the world.
“It’s chaotic but it’s also organized I think,” she said as she directed family members where she’d like boxes put.
She and her family collected books, puzzle games, dolls, stuffed animals, bars of soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, crayons, coloring books, school supplies, candy, shoes, clothes, hats, socks, play-doh, bouncing balls, frisbees and cloth bags. The family also spent time together over the last several months doing crafts which created crosses out of perler beads and popsicle sticks.
Sister-in-law Sally came to help and she brought her three children, Brock (9), Piper (11) and Holly (12).
“It’s family and we wanted to help,” said Sally when asked why she would volunteer to help. “I helped at our church stuff boxes too, but what Adair has going here is so well organized.”
Adair had three or four lines of tables set up with the tables labeled for appropriate age and gender and the signs also included directions on how many (and what kind) of items should be put in each box. Dad, Steve and older sons, Nick, Parker and Teddy helped with the heavy lifting and placing of the tables while the younger kids carried box-after-box of donated product from the van to the church back room (two trips). Some sat in the corner and assembled some of the empty shoeboxes waiting to be filled.
“I love organizing and I love the feeling of knowing I’m helping people around the world,” said Piper. “I love being with my cousins too.”
Steve said Adair stayed up until 4 a.m. the night before to make sure she was ready for the big day.
“She really outdid herself this year and I’m really proud of her,” he said.
Alejandra — a fellow Oakwood churchgoer who moved to Becker four months ago from Cancun, MX — said she decided to volunteer because she saw it “as a huge opportunity to share in the project of helping others.”
“I love helping out and I’m just grateful to be here,” she said.
Nick’s wife, Lisa and a family friend, Brenda, were also part of the crew helping to bring joy to the lives of strangers they’ll never meet.
“May many children and families be blessed and may they see God as they receive their box,” said Steve. “(we hope) they come to know Him through the ministry of Operation Christmas Child.”
