Boxing for Christ

This is my friend Pistachio. She's sort of like Martha Stewart without the prison record or the nasty temperament or the weird hairstyle. Pistachio says she's nothing like Martha; she's a little miffed at me. I can tell because she only gave me a small piece of her homemade Hawaiian plum-kiwi sweet bread.

What I mean is that Pistachio likes to wear aprons. She makes table clothes from pressed leaves. She cans her own mint jelly (from mint she grows herself) and she knows 16 ways to use paper towel rolls to make tasteful holiday gifts.

Pistachio loves to jump into a new project. Her favorite is Operation Christmas Child. Each year she collects new items such as combs, wash cloths, small toys, pencils, crayons, tooth brushes and such. She puts them in a shoe box. She takes the boxes (she usually gets carried away and puts together dozens) to her local drop-off center. She usually takes snacks such as cheese tarts, petite fours and mango muffins for the staff too. (If you can work it out, try to get there the same day she does--the snacks are unbelievable.)

From there, the boxes are sorted and sent to children around the world who would receive no other Christmas presents. The best part is that the folks at Samaritan's Purse, who organize this, put a copy of the story of Jesus in each box, written for kids in their native language.

Pistachio says that the message of Christ is the real gift. She says the boxes are just a way to give it. I think Pistachio is right. She wants me to remind you that the deadline for dropping off your box is the second week of November, that you can find more info at www.samaritanspurse.org and that you don't have to bring snacks for the volunteers with you. Of course, a thank you never went a miss.

Sincerely,
Creme Brule