JACKSON, Tenn. — Nov. 21, 2002 — When you look at the Alpha Tau Omega house on 51社区鈥檚 Fraternity Row, it doesn鈥檛 appear in the greatest of shape. After severe winds from the tornados that ran through West Tennessee knocked a large tree down, hitting the house, the chapter鈥檚 home suffered extensive damage, creating a gaping hole in the roof, breaking windows, and bringing a lot of water into the interior.
Inside the house, couches remain littered with broken glass and heaped in a pile in one room. Where there was once a door, there is now only a piece of plywood nailed to the wall. Pictures have been taken down from the walls and now sit in stacks on a table. The hole in the roof is covered by a tarp, though a water-damaged spot continues to grow across the ceiling. Looking, however, across to the opposite side of the chapter鈥檚 meeting room 鈥� the main room of the house 鈥� brightly-colored red and green shoeboxes filled with children鈥檚 toys are stacked five feet high and three feet deep, covering the entire width of the wall.
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The men of Alpha Tau Omega organize shoeboxes filled with toys and essential items for their Operation Christmas Child drive. |
Last year the students collected more than 1,800 boxes in cooperation with area churches 鈥� this year the goal is at least 2,500.
鈥淓ven though our house is out of order, the importance and impact Operation Christmas Child can make remains the same,鈥� said Union sophomore and Christian studies major Brian Curtis, who is social chair for the chapter and a native of Bowling Green, Ky.
Only in their second year helping with the Christmas ministry, the young men could easily have chosen to focus on repairing their house before the rapidly approaching end to the semester. All agreed, though, that their misfortune is minimal compared to what children are experiencing around the world.
鈥淭he tragedy that鈥檚 happened to us is nothing in comparison to what these children face on a day to day basis,鈥� said Derek Jones, a junior from Houston, Texas who is majoring in family studies. 鈥淭he poverty, the sickness and suffering they鈥檙e experiencing 鈥� even though we鈥檝e had this disaster happen to us, we have so much we can still give. 鈥�
Covering all of West Tennessee, from Obion to Rutherford Counties, churches and individuals have been dropping off their shoe boxes at the LifeWay store located on Union鈥檚 campus. The ATO members are storing the boxes at their house until Saturday, when all of the gifts will be taken to a drop-off point in Memphis.
More than six million children on six continents will receive gift-filled shoe boxes this year as part of Operation Christmas Child, the world鈥檚 largest children鈥檚 Christmas project. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has hand-delivered more than 18 million shoe box gifts via plane, boat, helicopter, even donkey and dog sled to children suffering from disease, war, terrorism, natural disaster, poverty, and famine.
鈥淥peration Christmas Child is an amazing project I鈥檓 really glad to be a part of,鈥� said Jones. 鈥淛ust the fact that we can use these simple gift-filled shoeboxes to share the love of Christ at Christmas all around the world is just an incredible opportunity and we鈥檙e so thankful to Samaritan鈥檚 Purse for providing this chance to help.鈥�
Curtis agrees.
鈥淲e鈥檙e committed to helping others in greater need than we are,鈥� Curtis added. 鈥淎 fraternity house isn鈥檛 much compared to how much these shoeboxes are helping children around the world. When you think about the number of times a simple shoebox leads to salvation because of the Christian literature that鈥檚 in each one and they鈥檙e all hand-delivered 鈥� that鈥檚 engrained in us as Union students, that as Christians we are to help people.
鈥淎s college students, we can鈥檛 give a lot but we all have shoe boxes.鈥�
