Most schoolday mornings, I hear HOOT HOOT from the mail man and say RUN!

The kids love charging to the gate and carrying back the parcels that are coming in.
I have to tell you, YOU and your boxes are making these kids lives (and MINE) so much fun. And FUN seems to be a little lacking.  We are still in the shadow of the storm… trees are just beginning to grow leaves again. Stores are beginning to have meat again. Some people have electricity —intermittently as it shuts down again for another reason or fault in the line.

But a box arrives and WOW! LOOK! Beef jerky was once a foreign word and now it’s a great delicious surprise inside the larger box. Trail mix!! Who knew that would go over so well?  And we mix our own from the tins and jars you send when there is no “trail mix” in the box. A few nuts from New York.  Some dried apricots from Kansas.  M&Ms from Pennsylvania.  Cashews from Maryland. All tossed into the classroom container.  Then someone’s mother says, “Hey that looks good…” and a ziplock baggie of it is given to the family!

Batteries!  We still collect them – AA for some flashlights, AAA for others, D for the larger lanterns. When our collection overflows the confines we have delineated, we give the overflow to people in our churches, the students’ families, random visitors who mention the need.

I took several packages to church  one Sunday with baggies of Starburst candy. Imagine a child being more excited for the batteries than the candy!  One little girl held up the 4 pack of AA batteries and said, “Mommy look.  My flashlight stopped working last night and now I have new batteries for it!” Praise God for YOUR generosity in sending.

Stores are not stocking up on batteries.  They are sold out almost as soon as the boxes are opened. School lunches are most often dehydrated foods or rice and beans supplemented with canned meats or ‘refrigerate after opening’ meats.

Thanks for making the morning mail run so much fun! You brighten the lives of our students as you serve God with your creative parcel making.  We are trying to respond to each parcel received – the students are practicing HOW TO WRITE A LETTER and so is their teacher because while is it more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35), we as receivers feel SO blessed and want to give you our thanks.