The students raised $1,000 to purchase items for the project, which included toys, flashlights, socks, and other fun and useful gifts. The boxes are part of Operation Christmas Child, a global initiative run by Samaritan’s Purse, a nonprofit Christian organization that distributes shoeboxes of gifts and gospel messages to children in underserved regions worldwide.
Faculty advisors for the club include teachers Kevin Scheib, Joann Curtis, and Celeste Bayley.
Joann Curtis explained the mission behind the SWAT Club and the inspiration for this charitable effort.
“SWAT stands for Students With A Testimony,” Curtis said. “We started it to give Christian students a safe place to build their relationship with Jesus and bring others to know Him.”
Curtis shared that the idea for the project came from her experience at The Bridge Church in Hamburg, which had previously participated in Operation Christmas Child.
“We were brainstorming ways our club could serve others, and this became our first of many service projects,” she said. “We’re doing 40 boxes — 20 for boys and 20 for girls. They’ll be shipped to Baltimore and then sent to children may have never received a Christmas gift before or even heard about Jesus.”
Donations and support came from throughout the North Schuylkill community.
“We started by spreading the word at the high school,” Curtis said. “Then our teachers helped share the message, and Mrs. Swartz reached out to Christ Evangelical Congregational Church in Lavelle and Trinity Evangelical Congregation in Frackville. They’ve done Operation Christmas Child boxes before, and while they couldn’t assemble them this year, they made a generous monetary donation that helped us reach our $1,000 goal.”
Curtis said the club hopes to make the project an annual tradition.
“We didn’t expect to raise that much this year, so we’re really excited to see what we can do next year,” she said.
Through this initiative, the SWAT Club not only spread holiday cheer but also strengthened their mission to share kindness, faith, and hope — one box at a time.
