HANNIBAL—The talent of a Hannibal man has earned him the loving nickname of “shoebox cobbler.”
Otis and Vanda Woodson, members of Calvary Baptist Church here, make shoeboxes to be filled by their church with gifts for children. This year, despite the declining eyesight of Otis, the Woodsons made 300 boxes for Operation Christmas Child (OCC), the shoebox ministry of Samaritan’s Purse.
“We saw the need for boxes for the OCC ministry,” Otis said. “I’ve always looked at things to see how they are made and built. I started looking at shoeboxes and decided I could make them.”
Making the shoeboxes was a process. Woodson began four years ago by piecing the boxes together, but they weren’t all the same size.
“I used to make a box and then matched it by making a lid,” he said. “I would number the box and the lid to keep them together; however, in the packing and handling of the boxes, the lids would get mixed up.”
Woodson discovered a better way to make the boxes with a pattern.
“I made a jig to go by,” he said. “It cuts time for each box because I don’t need to measure all the boxes by hand. I made the jig with a bottom part that is four inches deep. I put the cardboard in it and bend it on each side. Now, all the boxes are uniform.”
Woodson enjoyed this project with his wife, Vanda.
“When I finish the boxes, she paints them,” he said. “My boxes are sturdier than regular boxes and it makes it easier to paint and fill. When we finish painting, then the church gets them to decorate.”
Vanda said the cardboard comes from local merchants.
“Several places save the cardboard from packing boxes for him,” she said. “This last stack came from Long John Silver.”
Vanda’s talent for crocheting also is a plus for the boxes.
“I started 10 years ago by making crocheted caps for some missionaries and I increased the number every year,” she said. “Now, I have 400 for this year’s Operation Christmas Child boxes. The children who get these boxes will wear them.”
Others contribute to the caps, too.
“I’ll come into church,” Vanda said, “and there will be a bag of yarn sitting by my chair.”
Vanda shared their motivation for participating in Operation Christmas Child.
“We are mission-minded,” she said. “Missions are the lifeblood of Christianity. If we don’t tell others, they won’t know the Gospel. The lost are in our state, the U.S. and the world, and whether we go or stay home, we all need to be active in missions.”
For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call (913) 831-4466 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ. National Collection Week for gift-filled shoeboxes is Nov. 14-21, though shoeboxes are collected all year at the Samaritan’s Purse headquarters in Boone, N.C.
VICKI STAMPS/contributing writer