Until Nov. 20, the ECC club, United Students of All Cultures also known as USAC will be collecting donations for a charity program called Operation Christmas Child. A project lead by a religious organization known as Samaritan’s Purse, that aims to give gifts to children in need across the globe.

The donation process works like this: Get your hands on a clean shoe box (if there are logos/labels, please cover/remove them), then choose a gender and age range (2-4, 5-9, or 10-14). Pack the shoe box with both essential and non-essential items that follow with the gender and age range of the child. To tag the box, you can click here to download and print free basic labels. (As well, to view a simple step by step process.) Then, bring the shoe box to the Student Life department and state your donation is for the USAC’s collection.

With an extra donation of $9, a tracking label can be purchased online via the same link used to find the basic labels. This label will let you know what country the shoe box ends up in.

If you pay the $9 and bring the shoe box to the Village Tavern and Grill in South Elgin, tell them you were referred to by ECC and they’ll give you a $5 gift card.

Key items to avoid putting in the shoebox include any foods or liquids (including seeds), used or damaged items, war-suggestive items, medications/supplements, and items with fragile glass. Aside from potentially making the box a messy hazard, certain items cannot pass through international customs.

For more details and a full list of suggested items to put in, click here.

For a list of website-official drop off locations, click here.
There may be a drop off much closer to where you live than the ECC campus.