Millions of children around the world will receive a shoebox full of Christmas gifts through Operation Christmas Child (OCC), a program of Samaritan's Purse, a Christian relief organization. Some of those boxes will be filled locally by students at Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary School (SSBVM) in Middletown.

As part of a schoolwide mission project, which is being led by the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS), students will collect items to fill the shoeboxes through Friday, Nov. 12. Each class has been asked to donate certain necessities to be included in the boxes, such as socks and toothbrushes. The students' goal this year is to send 40 boxes filled with donations.

NJHS adviser Josh Koch said that this is the second year for this project, noting that students are educated about OCC before being asked to donate items. "The students know that these boxes are distributed throughout the world to children in need," he said.

Typically, shoeboxes contain toys, such as dolls, finger puppets and foam balls; personal care items, such as washcloths, hairbrushes and combs; and craft items, including coloring books, pens and pencils and stickers.

OCC requests that each box also contain a "wow" item. "The (NJHS) members will use monies collected through a variety of fundraisers to offset the cost of shipping each box," Koch explained. "These monies will also be used to include a 'wow' item for each box." "Wow" items could be a small stuffed animal, a football or jewelry.

Once the donation drive is completed, NJHS members will pack the shoeboxes. Koch will then deliver the shoeboxes to Hershey Church of the Nazarene. "I found out last year that once you drop off shoeboxes at specific drop-off locations, usually churches, they are sent to Baltimore for shipping throughout the world," he said. "The church location I visited had a list of all the possible countries to which any shoeboxes would be delivered."

Coordinating the OCC project is just one service activity of the NJHS, which consists of students in seventh and eighth grades. "They have held food drives for the local food pantry, (have held) a sock drive for the children of Louisiana affected by Hurricane Ida and helped unload and carry flea market items for the parish's annual festival."

To become an NJHS member, students must complete an application, which is then reviewed by a faculty committee. Students are admitted to the NJHS based on five categories: scholarship, leadership, citizenship, service and character.

"Once parents and students have been notified of (the students') admission, an induction ceremony is held at the end of Catholic Schools Week to officially welcome them into this organization," Koch noted.

Seven Sorrows, 360 E. Water St., Middletown, is a parochial elementary school serving students in prekindergarten through eighth grade. Visit http://www.sevensorrowsschool.com or email mkennedy@ssbvm.org to learn more. To schedule a tour, call 717-944-5371.