By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — For a few hours on Wednesday, the elementary wing of Davidson School looked more like Santa’s workshop.

Workers were running to and fro, filling brightly coloured shoeboxes with toys, clothes and other items, collected in their classrooms over the past week.

A total of 107 boxes, packed and ready to go, were brought to the mini gym following the packing party on Wednesday afternoon.

In weeks to come, they will be transported to a regional dropoff point, then delivered to Ukraine and presented to dozens of underprivileged children through the Operation Christmas Child (OCC) program, operated by Samaritan’s Purse.

Dave and Colleen Spelliscy, who serve as local contacts for the program, were thrilled with the response from Davidson students.

The Spelliscys, longtime supporters of OCC, travelled to Costa Rica in May with a group that distributed 400 shoeboxes there.

This fall, they visited several classes in Davidson, showing pictures from their trip and talking about the shoebox program.

Further meetings with teachers paved the way for the school to participate in the program. Students were invited to bring in their donations in the days leading up to the packing party.

While the reaction to the idea was varied at first, teachers and students alike grew more excited over time, Dave said.

“It’s just phenomenal,” he said Wednesday, as he filled paper bags with popcorn for the students as a show of appreciation for their efforts.

“They’ve overwhelmed us with their generosity and their love for these kids all over the world,” said Colleen. “I don’t know if there’s a thank you big enough.”

For the full story and more photos, see the Nov. 21 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.