By Karen Acee
Church of the Annunciation
Three Utica area teens from the Little Flowers girls group recently put forth an effort to help children in developing countries have a very special Christmas. Annette (St. Mark’s), Annie (Holy Trinity) and Juliana (Church of the Annunciation) presented to their parishes information about Cross Catholic Outreach’s program, Boxes of Joy. These “boxes of joy” are shoebox-sized boxes filled with toys, school supplies, fun hair accessories, stuffed animals, cars and toiletries. Once filled, they are shipped to developing countries where children each get their own box to open at Christmas.
“It is satisfying to pack them,” said 16-year-old Juliana. “It makes me happy thinking of the kids being happy.”
The girls submitted bulletin announcements or spoke to their parishes asking for donations of items to put in the boxes or $9 to cover the cost of shipping each box. They were overjoyed with the response from the three parishes. They thought they would be packing about 20 boxes, but when all was said and done, there were 85 total, and all the shipping costs were covered! God is good all the time, all the time God is good!
