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December 14, 2004

Good things in small packages

by Mary Somers

	Residence assistants Kelli Bishop (left) and Janice Wilson organizedOperation Christmas Child at the Howe Hall residence.

Students in Howe Hall believe that good things come in small packages and they've set out this Christmas to prove it.

Under the direction of residence assistants Kelli Bishop and Janice Wilson, the students filled about 60 boxes with small gifts - toys, toothpaste, tooth brushes, school supplies, hard candy and small musical instruments, like harmonicas - for children in the developing world as part of Operation Christmas Child.

Kelli, a third-year Biology student from Florence, Cape Breton, began donating to the program when she was in high school. She thought it would be a wonderful way for Howe Hall students to contribute to a group effort. "It gets me and other students into the spirit of giving for Christmas," says Kelli. "I do it myself every year. It's the way I start off the holiday season."

Janice, a third-year engineering student from Montreal, got introduced to the program by Kelli and thought it was a great idea.

"It's too easy for university students to be sheltered from reality," says Wilson. "We get wrapped up in the ivory tower stuff, in exams and studies. It's important to be a part of the bigger picture." Each floor of the residence got into the spirit of the program. Because a box can be filled for $8 to $10, most students can contribute an item or two with a trip to a dollar store.

But there's always a hitch - somewhere. This year a student decided to donate a wind instrument - a recorder - that was simply too long for the box provided. The box got reconfigured and the recorder is now on its way with the other gifts.

Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan's Purse, a religious group based in Calgary. This year it plans to deliver 6.5 million boxes to children in 65 countries, but it got some critical news coverage because of the group's evangelical beliefs. Kelli says she doesn't want to get embroiled in the debate. It is, she says, the season for giving. And for the students of Howe Hall to show that, if you care, wonderful things can come in small packages.