Operation Christmas Child at Charleston Southern University

Jenna Johnson, CSU’s executive director of marketing and communication, discusses the effect that Operation Christmas Child has had on the university. Johnson said CSU has become one of the top shoebox-packing institutions in the nation and notes that the initiative has grown steadily for more than a decade. 

According to Johnson, OCC began at CSU about 14 years ago with small groups packing only hundreds of boxes. The project expanded significantly during the 2018–19 school year when CSU’s Sweet 16 events were launched, and the OCC packing party became one of those highlighted activities.

In 2018, CSU packed a little over 5,000 boxes, a number that marked the beginning of the university’s rapid growth in participation. Johnson said, “People such as Laurie Diel and Clark Carter listened to the call of the Lord and continued to step out in faith each year, contributing to the project’s expansion.” 

She also said that each year OCC has continued to grow with the number of boxes, including numbers over 13,000 for the last three years. As a result, CSU has become one of the top shoebox packers in the nation.

Johnson explains that while the OCC process does not change, people’s motivations and passions for the ministry shift as new groups of students, faculty, and staff become involved. To help manage the increasing workload, a committee was formed this year to balance responsibilities related to OCC. 

The committee meets months in advance, both on and off campus, to plan and coordinate the project. Johnson notes that many people donate their time and money each year to support the organization.

Reflecting on her experience with the project, Johnson said being a part of OCC takes a village of people. She adds, “Nobody can do it alone.” 

Many hands touch the boxes before the children receive them, and all the boxes are individually prayed for. Johnson said the collaboration is “Truly the greatest representation of what the entire Christmas season is about.” 

Being a part of OCC, she notes, has brought entire CSU departments together. Johnson said, “I have seen God’s power every year exceed our expectations for the number of boxes we think we can pack.”

Johnson said, “God is the only reason that we can break records every year.” She said there are many stories of people on campus sharing what they have experienced at CSU to witness to others. “The loaves and fish metaphor that is used every year when it comes to the process of OCC,” she said. 

Although CSU is a small university, Johnson notes that it continues to be an OCC national leader, because of what God can do. She concludes that it is important to remember with OCC “that the Lord can do abundantly more than we ask, think or imagine, and He proves this every year.”