Alumni Creators Turning Creativity into a Career
Rick Bickerstaff ’08Communication major, religion minorFilmmaker, screenwriter, songwriter, musician, author Publishin...

Students helped pack more than 14,000 Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts during the annual Packing Party at Charleston Southern University. Photo by Dan Steffy
It’s official – Charleston Southern University has packed the most Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes of any college or university in the U.S. for the seventh year in a row.
This year is Charleston Southern’s 14th year of packing the red and green shoebox gifts as a university. Since 2019, the CSU family has packed 77,488 boxes for children around the world. Total number of boxes packed for 2025 is 14,100.
The campus works on collecting supplies and donations throughout the year. Students, clubs and organizations, residence halls, and faculty and staff departments bring their boxes on OCC Collection Day, and the remainder of the shoeboxes are filled at the OCC Packing Party.
Top Individual Student Packers:
Top Staff Packers:
Top Faculty Packers:
Charleston Southern University is grateful for the 40-plus companies and groups who partner with CSU to support this initiative, including PetSmart, Extra Room Storage, Ecclesia Construction Company, HisRadio, Cumulus Media, Mt. Holly Century Aluminum, Kion, and so many more.
To support this ministry in 2026 and to learn more, go to charlestonsouthern.edu/OCC.
Jenna Johnson serves as executive director of marketing and communication and chief communication officer at Charleston Southern University, where she has led strategic marketing initiatives since 2017. A graduate of Clemson University and CSU, her career spans media relations, brand management, and nonprofit leadership, earning recognition as one of Charleston’s Forty Under 40 and Best & Brightest 35 and Under. Passionate about communication and community, she is also deeply involved in her church, youth sports, and local charitable causes.