It’s A Wrap: Operation Christmas Child An Overwhelming Success

Operation Christmas Child, the non-denominational "global Christmas gift exchange program" operated by the evangelical Christian humanitarian organization Samaritan's Purse, was warmly embraced by Northport and surrounding communities this year. 

The charity drive, which involves donated shoe boxes filled with toys, school supplies, personal items, and small gifts, netted 3,607 total shoeboxes, of which approximately 2,200 were donated by St. Philip Neri's parishioners. Last year's total donation was 2,600 boxes.

Meg Cleary, a member of St. Philip's, has operated the program for Northport for the past decade.  It all began back in 2001 when Cleary's son Ian, now a high school senior, heard about the project from his cousin, who was donating a shoebox through St. John's Episcopal Church in Huntington. Ian and his mom were captivated.

Cleary suggested the project to her religious education class, and the children loved the idea. They donated a total of 20 boxes, and word began to spread. Mary Ann Devine, the religious education teacher for the lower grades at St. Philip Neri at the time, suggested that every grade could participate.  That proved very successful.

Enter Carol Arote, another passionate St. Philip's member who was formerly the head of the confirmation classes. Cleary says Arote empowered her to take Operation Christmas Child parish wide. Four years ago, thanks to Cleary and Arote's efforts, the church became a central drop-off point for other parishes.

There are several ways that people can participate each year: either by dropping off a wrapped, filled shoe box, or by donating bulk items. Cleary says the amount of support for bulk items was astounding this year.  Employees at the Payless shoe stores in Commack and Smithtown asked customers if they would like to donate their shoe boxes – and roughly 800 people said yes. Cleary smiled when she talked about the people who spent a good month wrapping those boxes, including Anita Thomas, Karen Pulver, and Terry Gullino. "They were amazing," she said.

Other people also lent a hand. Charlie Bravo,who works at Schein Pharmaceuticals, donated toothbrushes and toothpaste, along with Dr. Melvin Kee, a Northport area dentist and  Judy Corbellin, Director of Religious Education at St. Anthony of Padua in East Northport.

Steve D'Amato, of D'Amato Landscaping and his family have been lending his trucks to the program for the past eight years. And Larry Nixon, St. Philip's caretaker who Cleary said was a "one-man show" before the program got too big, could be counted on to be on hand to open the doors early in the morning and lift boxes.

Other groups in the area besides St. Philip's have joined the effort. Seventh graders at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Centerport held a service night at which they collected 600 Beanie Babies, toys, pens and boxes. Approximately 25 children from St. Paul's Lutheran Church in East Northport came to St. Philips on a Saturday night to off their boxes. A bereavement group in East Northport, who wished to remain anonymous, donated boxes as well. And Father Peter Garry, the former priest at St. Philip Neri, drove all the way from his new parish in Southhold with 37 packed shoe boxes in the back of his car.

People who include a letter in the shoe box will sometimes get a response back.  Cleary says the year that the movie Madagascar came out, a parishioner received a letter from a child who had received a box in Madagascar.  Last year, letters received made it clear that shoe boxes from the area had reached an orphanage in Russia.  This year, the program features a tracking device on the labels, which should make it much easier to see where the shoe boxes go.

The drive ended on Monday, Nov. 22 with Arote and Cleary driving a 16-foot truck out to the Church on the Sound in Stony Brook. By Tuesday Cleary's voice was hoarse but as usual she was upbeat, stressing the team effort involved in such a large undertaking. "It's very contagious. People drop off items and end up staying for an hour or two to help pack boxes."