Thank you, Denise. It was a very clear explained video. I've been watching all of you ladies videos this fall and it's helped motivate and encourage me to pack this year. I've been packing for about 14 years now. I wasn't able to last year. I didn't realize there were so many people on YT showing how to pack a box. It's been wonderful to see all of the great ideas! Never knew I could pack underwear. Didn't know to do fillers either. This year I did a whole lot of fillers and became a pencil granny too because of you.❤
You are welcome! Yay for fillers and pencil grannies! Boy, are they needed! Thank you so much for doing that! And I’m glad I encouraged you to give it a try! I love packing pencil packs! I love getting creative and know how much they can bless a box! Thank you for watching and packing for so many years! I’ve been packing for 13!
Thanks for the explanation of what happens at the processing center, Denise! I do the same, take the top items out to inspect the rest inside, and put everything back unless it's inappropriate. The line leader gave a great explanation too. I wish I can volunteer more days! Very cute boxes in the end. Love the watch and vehicle set. Gorgeous bracelet set! Oh, love Paddington! Great video, Denise! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Sharon for watching! I wish we could have worked together! Maybe next year! Honestly I had a lot of empty boxes. We did our best with filler. But these were a few of my faves.
Thank you for explaining the process. It reliefs some of my fear on how my boxes would be handled as mine are full, full, full. That’s a very cute box.
I love seeing the process of checking a shoebox! There's only one processing center in Canada, and its quite far away from me, so i doubt I'll ever have the chance to volunteer. I like to live vicariously through other volunteers 😂 great video! ❤
Thank you! I’ve heard that there’s only one in Canada.😢 It’s a very eye opening experience. I wish everyone could try it. Well I’ll do my best to share every year! 🥰
Great video, thank you! I’ve wondered how volunteers at the processing centers get everything back inside the boxes (due to my children, I’ve been unable to volunteer), so it totally makes sense that not everything comes out of the box.
She is new at it but to her credit she did a very good job overall. Always getting us more filler, emptied our trash cans and tried very hard to make the right decisions even though she was so new. It’s hard when the team coach is a seasonal employee rather than a seasoned packer or year round employee. But she couldn’t have been more pleasant to work with. 😊
It was so fun working with you too! I wish we could have been together even longer! And thank you for your prayers! Have a great day tomorrow! Not sure if I will be back but I hope so! Glad you found my channel! :)
Hi Denise, Thanks for this little coaching video on how to Process a Shoebox. Although our Processing Centres in Australia may be tempoary sites (like my home state), we follow exactly the same procedures. This includes when I work at the Shoebox Hospital to attend to shoeboxes that require a little TLC before they are ready for their carton. Like when Big Ted refused to get back into his box or a large number of inappropriate items have been packed. The integrity of the box is most important. Sometimes it is not evident why certain things have been packed like unicorns with football team paraphenalia, and then your read the letter. Ohh it is been packed by a brother (football fan) and sister (unicorn lover). Knowing this, I can grab the right filler item to comfortablly fill and maintain the integrity of the shoebox. TFS!
Hi Fiona! So great to know we all follow the same process! You were the perfect person to work the hospital! You are caring and you understand the integrity of the box! Yesterday I worked filler! This was a nice break from processing and a chance to make those filler bins varied! Very fun but also hard work! Thanks for watching and sharing Fiona! Have a beautiful holiday my friend!
@@drogers Hi Denise, Yes. I love making filler boxes too. My local PC was composed of a core team of PC volunteers. Over the last five weeks, I was accepted as one of the team. And happily assisted where I could from empty the trash cans to ensure the Processing Tables (Pods) were stocked with enough packaging tape to get throught the next shift. I even spent an afternoon threading ribbon (drawstrings) to make the little bags for our surprise bag (blind bag) fillers. I received plenty of complements about my packing skills. However, at times, I did frustrate my senior team leader who wanted less of packing perfection and more of lifting and peeking. But, what can you do when a kid asks to check his pencils at the bottom of his box!
Just sent my first boxes this year and had some inspiration from your videos as I packed. My boxes aren’t quite as beautiful as yours with my last minute packing but praying the kids will be blessed by them. You seem so loving and kind BTW. Thanks for sharing your OCC packing and this next step of the process. Its so informative and exciting to know the journey of the boxes from our hands packing them to going into the hands of a child who receives them. I hope all kids that receive boxes within the next year are so blessed and know God loves them. Wishing you all the best and many blessings. Have a Happy Holiday season. 😊❤ 🤲 🎄 💝 🎁
Thank you for this sweet comment. It’s good to know that the videos do help. And I’m SURE your boxes are beautiful and will be such blessings for the kids! Thank you for watching and packing! Happy Holidays to you! 🥰
Gosh, my boxes were SO FULL that I wonder if they will get it back in. I might have to be a little more conscious of how much to stuff in next year. It was my first year, and I tried the soccer balls. Tough assignment. :)
Full boxes are wonderful!!!!!!! I love it when I get full boxes! No worries! We always get it back in! Your boxes will be such blessings! And yes,?the soccer balls can be a tough assignment but oh how they love the soccer balls! Well worth it!
Hi Susan! I buy the 107 rubber band on Amazon. I wait until the price comes down though. It has a tendency to go up and down. Thanks for watching and Merry Christmas to you and your family too!
Thank you for your videos. I have just recently discovered them. They have been extremely helpful and inspired me to try new things with my boxes in 2024. Four things I would like to see content on 1) How you make goals for the new year, and what things you try to add. 2) How to write a letter for your boxes, with ideas to include. 3) an unboxed sports box for a girl 9-14 4) an unboxed camping box for a boy either 5-8 or 9-14.
Welcome Heather! Glad you found me! And thanks for your requests! I’ll do my best! I was already planning a sample letter video. Not sure about goals other than I pack year round and while I did 167 boxes this year, I’ll shoot for 125 next year. A girls sports box is always great to pack and share and I did a camping box this year! I will be starting up again at the end of February so stay tuned! Thanks for watching! 💕
Do you know Robyn from Mattman and Robyn? I have not seen any videos from her lately and want to make sure she is OK. I enjoy watching you and her, but her last video was months ago. If you can reach her, let her know I am praying for her
Hi Jeanette! Yes, I know Robynn. I believe she is focusing on adoption right now with her family. I’m sure she would love to hear of your prayers for her.
Hi Denise, Thank you for this very informative video. I always place the disclaimer from Blessings in a Shoebox to indicate there are no prohibited items. Do you still have to check if there is a disclaimer on top of the items?
Thanks Patricia! Yes, based on my experience at the Processing Center, I found the disclaimers to be ineffective. Every box still must be thoroughly inspected. I tried it one year but realized it was just a waste of paper. Hope that helps!
I believe the reason is due to customs. The box could then be viewed as aid and hold up a whole shipment because it is not allowed. For a more definitive answer you can contact OCC at occinfo@samaritan.org They will usually respond within 2-3 days. Thanks for asking!
Well, if they are clear...it is a lot easier. If not, we look inside as best we can. I do not dump them out but do my best to make sure nothing inappropriate is in there. There are not too many inappropriate items that will fit inside a water bottle fortunately...but I guess you never know!
@drogers ... That's sort of what I figured. I send so many water bottles and hoped they weren't too hard to check. My boxes are getting processed fast this year. I'm already getting destinations. 😁
Thanks so much! Hope you are having fun in Dallas and blessed with good groups to process with at your table! I am sure you are exhausted as it is a lot of work! Bless you for volunteering!
Today was my first day for the processing center this year in Denver Colorado. I did have some of my pencil packs I did as filler come through my table and that was fun to see. They still didn’t seem to have that much school supplies, I’m sure they try and spread it out. A great Day,thanks for sharing your process center.
That’s sooo exciting! It’s fun to see your own packs come through! They never have enough though. And when we do, it flies out of the filler bins into the shoeboxes! So happy to hear about your day!
Thank you, Denise. It was a very clear explained video. I've been watching all of you ladies videos this fall and it's helped motivate and encourage me to pack this year. I've been packing for about 14 years now. I wasn't able to last year. I didn't realize there were so many people on YT showing how to pack a box. It's been wonderful to see all of the great ideas! Never knew I could pack underwear. Didn't know to do fillers either. This year I did a whole lot of fillers and became a pencil granny too because of you.❤
You are welcome! Yay for fillers and pencil grannies! Boy, are they needed! Thank you so much for doing that! And I’m glad I encouraged you to give it a try! I love packing pencil packs! I love getting creative and know how much they can bless a box! Thank you for watching and packing for so many years! I’ve been packing for 13!
Thanks for the explanation of what happens at the processing center, Denise! I do the same, take the top items out to inspect the rest inside, and put everything back unless it's inappropriate. The line leader gave a great explanation too. I wish I can volunteer more days! Very cute boxes in the end. Love the watch and vehicle set. Gorgeous bracelet set! Oh, love Paddington! Great video, Denise! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Sharon for watching! I wish we could have worked together! Maybe next year! Honestly I had a lot of empty boxes. We did our best with filler. But these were a few of my faves.
Thank you for explaining the process. It reliefs some of my fear on how my boxes would be handled as mine are full, full, full. That’s a very cute box.
Well you know how full my boxes are too!😂🤣😂 Your boxes will be fine… fluffy and all!
I love seeing the process of checking a shoebox! There's only one processing center in Canada, and its quite far away from me, so i doubt I'll ever have the chance to volunteer. I like to live vicariously through other volunteers 😂 great video! ❤
Thank you! I’ve heard that there’s only one in Canada.😢 It’s a very eye opening experience. I wish everyone could try it. Well I’ll do my best to share every year! 🥰
Thank you for sharing this. I packed 4 shoesboxes for the first time this year and am glad to see how they will be processed!
That’s wonderful! So happy to hear you packed boxes for the first time! 🥰
Thanks, Dee! I have been seeing a lot of confusion, etc. Thanks for making it all clear. Looking forward to seeing more boxes. 😁 ❤
Glad it was helpful! Thanks Kim!
Great video, thank you! I’ve wondered how volunteers at the processing centers get everything back inside the boxes (due to my children, I’ve been unable to volunteer), so it totally makes sense that not everything comes out of the box.
You are welcome! We work hard at the PC to get everything back nicely. And peeking and lifting helps that process. Thanks for watching!
I have started working on a shoe box for next year. Thank you for giving me a peak into how boxes get processed.
You are getting a nice head start! Yayyyy!!!!
The team coach taping should go around the box 360 degrees. She definitely cut it off short. Good catch that lip balms can go in the box.
She is new at it but to her credit she did a very good job overall. Always getting us more filler, emptied our trash cans and tried very hard to make the right decisions even though she was so new. It’s hard when the team coach is a seasonal employee rather than a seasoned packer or year round employee. But she couldn’t have been more pleasant to work with. 😊
Hello Denise! New subscriber here! It was a delight to work alongside you today at the Processing Center! ❤️
It was so fun working with you too! I wish we could have been together even longer! And thank you for your prayers! Have a great day tomorrow! Not sure if I will be back but I hope so! Glad you found my channel! :)
Love this Denise! Turned out great! So fun to work with ya💜
Thanks for being such a great coach and my video star! You are the best! 🥰
When I turn 18 I really want to volunteer. My friend loves Minnie Mouse. She and Daisy Duck are my favorite
You will love it when you get to go! And you will be so good at it! 💕
Hi Denise, Thanks for this little coaching video on how to Process a Shoebox. Although our Processing Centres in Australia may be tempoary sites (like my home state), we follow exactly the same procedures. This includes when I work at the Shoebox Hospital to attend to shoeboxes that require a little TLC before they are ready for their carton. Like when Big Ted refused to get back into his box or a large number of inappropriate items have been packed. The integrity of the box is most important. Sometimes it is not evident why certain things have been packed like unicorns with football team paraphenalia, and then your read the letter. Ohh it is been packed by a brother (football fan) and sister (unicorn lover). Knowing this, I can grab the right filler item to comfortablly fill and maintain the integrity of the shoebox. TFS!
Hi Fiona! So great to know we all follow the same process! You were the perfect person to work the hospital! You are caring and you understand the integrity of the box! Yesterday I worked filler! This was a nice break from processing and a chance to make those filler bins varied! Very fun but also hard work! Thanks for watching and sharing Fiona! Have a beautiful holiday my friend!
@@drogers Hi Denise, Yes. I love making filler boxes too. My local PC was composed of a core team of PC volunteers. Over the last five weeks, I was accepted as one of the team. And happily assisted where I could from empty the trash cans to ensure the Processing Tables (Pods) were stocked with enough packaging tape to get throught the next shift. I even spent an afternoon threading ribbon (drawstrings) to make the little bags for our surprise bag (blind bag) fillers. I received plenty of complements about my packing skills. However, at times, I did frustrate my senior team leader who wanted less of packing perfection and more of lifting and peeking. But, what can you do when a kid asks to check his pencils at the bottom of his box!
Just sent my first boxes this year and had some inspiration from your videos as I packed. My boxes aren’t quite as beautiful as yours with my last minute packing but praying the kids will be blessed by them. You seem so loving and kind BTW. Thanks for sharing your OCC packing and this next step of the process. Its so informative and exciting to know the journey of the boxes from our hands packing them to going into the hands of a child who receives them. I hope all kids that receive boxes within the next year are so blessed and know God loves them. Wishing you all the best and many blessings. Have a Happy Holiday season. 😊❤ 🤲 🎄 💝 🎁
Same here with me 😊
Thank you for this sweet comment. It’s good to know that the videos do help. And I’m SURE your boxes are beautiful and will be such blessings for the kids! Thank you for watching and packing! Happy Holidays to you! 🥰
Great video, Denise. Love the pictures of your faves at the end. You got to see some good ones. ❤
Thanks Trish! Always love seeing new ideas in these boxes!
Very informative. Thanks for walking us through!
Some very nice idea's. In those boxes.
One of the fun things about processing is seeing all the love put into the boxes and new ideas!
Gosh, my boxes were SO FULL that I wonder if they will get it back in. I might have to be a little more conscious of how much to stuff in next year. It was my first year, and I tried the soccer balls. Tough assignment. :)
Full boxes are wonderful!!!!!!! I love it when I get full boxes! No worries! We always get it back in! Your boxes will be such blessings! And yes,?the soccer balls can be a tough assignment but oh how they love the soccer balls! Well worth it!
Fingers crossed! :)
Dee, where do you find your rubber bands? Happy Packing. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas.
Hi Susan! I buy the 107 rubber band on Amazon. I wait until the price comes down though. It has a tendency to go up and down. Thanks for watching and Merry Christmas to you and your family too!
Thank you for your videos. I have just recently discovered them. They have been extremely helpful and inspired me to try new things with my boxes in 2024.
Four things I would like to see content on 1) How you make goals for the new year, and what things you try to add. 2) How to write a letter for your boxes, with ideas to include. 3) an unboxed sports box for a girl 9-14 4) an unboxed camping box for a boy either 5-8 or 9-14.
Welcome Heather! Glad you found me! And thanks for your requests! I’ll do my best! I was already planning a sample letter video. Not sure about goals other than I pack year round and while I did 167 boxes this year, I’ll shoot for 125 next year. A girls sports box is always great to pack and share and I did a camping box this year! I will be starting up again at the end of February so stay tuned! Thanks for watching! 💕
Thanks. Very helpful.
Do you know Robyn from Mattman and Robyn? I have not seen any videos from her lately and want to make sure she is OK. I enjoy watching you and her, but her last video was months ago. If you can reach her, let her know I am praying for her
Hi Jeanette! Yes, I know Robynn. I believe she is focusing on adoption right now with her family. I’m sure she would love to hear of your prayers for her.
Hi Denise, Thank you for this very informative video. I always place the disclaimer from Blessings in a Shoebox to indicate there are no prohibited items. Do you still have to check if there is a disclaimer on top of the items?
Thanks Patricia! Yes, based on my experience at the Processing Center, I found the disclaimers to be ineffective. Every box still must be thoroughly inspected. I tried it one year but realized it was just a waste of paper. Hope that helps!
Thanks D Rogers for sharing insight into the processing center! This is a really good video.
You are welcome Hannah! ❤️
Do you know why they do not want any money in the boxes?
I believe the reason is due to customs. The box could then be viewed as aid and hold up a whole shipment because it is not allowed. For a more definitive answer you can contact OCC at occinfo@samaritan.org
They will usually respond within 2-3 days. Thanks for asking!
Should you not look in the coloring book for money?
We do not usually open up every coloring book and flip through every page. There is not enough time and it is not expected of the processors.
Hi, I sent a message on instagram. Did you get it?
No, I didn’t receive it. Did you send me a direct message or leave a comment?
Loved seeing some of your favorite boxes at the end! Amazing how much can fit in some of those boxes.
I always wonder about fully packed water bottles. 😊
Well, if they are clear...it is a lot easier. If not, we look inside as best we can. I do not dump them out but do my best to make sure nothing inappropriate is in there. There are not too many inappropriate items that will fit inside a water bottle fortunately...but I guess you never know!
@drogers ... That's sort of what I figured. I send so many water bottles and hoped they weren't too hard to check. My boxes are getting processed fast this year. I'm already getting destinations. 😁
Thanks for sharing Denise! One of these days I’ll make it to the Calgary processing centre to show that one off 😆
I hope you make it to Calgary too! It is such a wonderful experience!
Great video Denise!!! I am going to share this on my area FB page. I am here in Dallas as a team coach and your video was awesome!
Thanks so much! Hope you are having fun in Dallas and blessed with good groups to process with at your table! I am sure you are exhausted as it is a lot of work! Bless you for volunteering!
Today was my first day for the processing center this year in Denver Colorado. I did have some of my pencil packs I did as filler come through my table and that was fun to see. They still didn’t seem to have that much school supplies, I’m sure they try and spread it out. A great Day,thanks for sharing your process center.
That’s sooo exciting! It’s fun to see your own packs come through! They never have enough though. And when we do, it flies out of the filler bins into the shoeboxes! So happy to hear about your day!
Thanks for taking us along. Were most of the 📦 full? Where did they ship to?
On that day they were going to Mozambique. They also shipped to Dominican Republic, South Africa and yesterday went to Tanzania!