String lights, Santa Claus and shoeboxes: Christmas on campus

Lee University’s Student Engagement Office is offering prizes to campus groups that pack the most Operation Christmas Child boxes, as a part of Lee’s annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 17.

“This year, we're hoping and planning to combine our OCC (Operation Christmas Child) efforts in kind of a culmination event with our Christmas tree lighting that we host annually,” said Alex Staup, director of student engagement at Lee University. “We’re inviting clubs, organizations, staff, faculty, and any student groups to be able to pack boxes, and deliver them at the Christmas tree lighting event.”

Participating campus groups and clubs should bring their packed shoeboxes to the Christmas tree lighting ceremony, where they can enjoy the festivities. The following week, the boxes will be counted, and winners will be announced. Clubs will be entered into a $250 drawing for every five boxes they pack, and the group that packs the most boxes will receive a pizza party.

“I think this would just be a wonderful way for us to get involved and give back to the community,” said Belia Jackson, event coordinator for Backyard, a tutoring ministry led by Lee University students.

“Giving back to other kids who don't necessarily come to Backyard, and just kind of like expanding and broadening and getting more involved with Cleveland.”

Operation Christmas Child was founded by Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian organization that provides global aid to people in need, in 1993. The purpose of Operation Christmas Child is to pack and send Christmas gifts to children across the world, in an effort to demonstrate God’s love.

Lee University has worked with Operation Christmas Child for 24 years, and packed more than 45,000 boxes sent worldwide.

“OCC is not about shopping for Jesus, but it's about going beyond the box, and not just sharing the good news, but being the good news,” said Staup.

One of the most memorable Operation Christmas Child initiatives on campus is Pack ‘n’ Stack — a service opportunity for all freshman and transfer students, headed up by First Year Programs on Nov. 14.

“Beyond that (Pack ‘n’ Stack), we also try to coordinate and organize OCC efforts across the campus,” said Staup. “We want to make sure that it's not just a freshman initiative, but something. that we hope is valuable across campus.”

In 2018, the president and CEO of Samaritan’s purse, Franklin Graham, thanked Lee University in a video posted to the Samaritan’s Purse website.

“I just want to say to you folks at Lee University, thank you for supporting Operation Christmas Child,” Graham said. “Thank you for being a part of this, thank you for partnering with us.”

In addition to the Operation Christmas Child initiative, the tree lighting ceremony will offer live music, cookie decorating, and a visit from Santa Claus.

The ceremony will start at 6:30 p.m. outside the Science and Math Complex, and is free and open to the public.