Every child should have access at least to a few moments of happiness, especially around the Christmas holiday when we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ: the son of God who came on this earth as the best gift for sinful people.
We know the context of the families we work with, and some of the children grow up in very violent and sad environments. This is why Regen offers small Christmas boxes to approximately 200 children each year.
We raise the necessary funds for all the boxes and then our staff shops for the items. In every box we try to have the following things: a Math and a Romanian notebook, 2 pencils, a pen, an eraser, colored pencils, pencil sharpener, a coloring book, a toy, Romanian version of Play-Doh, a pair of socks, a pair of gloves, a chocolate bar, crackers, a Kinder egg, a juice box, toothpaste and a toothbrush.
The cost of a full box is about $7 or $8. Depending on our budget, sometimes we are not able to put everything in the box. However, we have been blessed each year to manage to raise the whole budget for the Christmas boxes.
It is truly a joy to see the happiness on the faces of the children when they receive these boxes. When we give the boxes, we remind them about the greatest gift of all who came to offer salvation for all of us. Our desire and prayer that these gifts will make them realize the importance of the greatest gift of all that came to love sinners.
The gift box project begins with fundraising starting in the beginning of December, and we give out the boxes during the week before Christmas.