Thursday, December 19, 2019

BURNABY, B.C. – For the third straight year, some children in the world will be a little happier and healthier over the holiday season thanks to student-athletes from Simon Fraser University.

Simon Fraser’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee conducted its third Operation Christmas Child on November 18. Around 70 people participated in the event, which is a culmination of a donation drive to collect toys, non-liquid hygiene items and school supplies to send overseas to countries affected by disease, war and poverty.

“We do a lot of fundraising and volunteering for our local community and we wanted to expand that to a global scale,” said Laura Jones, a SFU women’s golf student-athlete and president of the SFU SAAC. “Support for the initiative has continued to grow with each coming year and it’s been awesome to see so many student-athletes getting involved.”

Operation Christmas Child took place in Simon Fraser’s West Gym, where student-athletes came together to enjoy hot chocolate and seasonal music and undertake the task of packing donated items. Participants hand-filled boxes with items of their choosing for a child of a given age and gender. Each box was wrapped and topped off with a personalized greeting card. A total of 79 boxes were prepped for delivery.

The majority of the donated items were provided by Simon Fraser student-athletes and athletic department staff.

“Christmas is a very special time for many of us and the excitement that came along with it in childhood was extremely memorable,” Jones said. “This initiative enables us to help create that excitement for other children around the world, which is a really special feeling.”