If a gift opens the heart, then Mike and Janet Roggero have opened the hearts of thousands of children worldwide through their support of Operation Christmas Child (OCC).

OCC’s mission is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children. As a project of Samaritan’s Purse, OCC partners with churches big and small to brighten children’s holidays by delivering shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies and hygiene items. 

Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse—a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization—has provided spiritual and physical aid to people affected by war, poverty, natural disasters, disease and famine. Through OCC, more than 220 million children in over 170 countries and territories have received shoebox gifts since 1993.

“These simple shoeboxes filled with small gifts can have a profound effect,” said Janet, 71. “In fact, often the gifts are life-changing.”

One story she remembers well is about Elizabeth from Ukraine, who, along with her stepsister, ran away from an alcoholic single mother and took to the streets begging for food. Authorities eventually picked them up, placing them in an orphanage, where Elizabeth’s stepsister was claimed by her biological father.

“Elizabeth was left all alone, until that Christmas when she received a shoebox from Operation Christmas Child. It gave her hope that God loved her in a world that seemed to have no hope,” said Janet.

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Years later, Elizabeth joined her orphanage choir, which eventually toured the U.S., and she was adopted by her host family. Today, Elizabeth is actively involved in OCC. She and her family have packed more than 8,000 shoeboxes to bring hope to other children.

The Roggeros have been filling and packing boxes since 2012. Starting with only 12 boxes that first year, their mission grew exponentially to 300 and beyond. Now, they fill an average 500 boxes per year, totaling more than 4,000.

“Operation Christmas Child is an opportunity to show God’s love to children all over the world,” Janet said. “It’s a labor of love with hours and hours of shopping and packing, but we love it.”

A LABOR OF LOVE

Starting right after Christmas, the Roggeros watch for sales across the Western Slope. They wait for 75% or 90% off sales, generally after holidays, and then buy up to 14 carts at a time, filled with items small enough to fit in a shoebox. 

Mike and Janet Roggero pack their car with shoeboxes filled with gifts ready to donate to Operation Christmas Child. 

Items are stored in the lower level of their home in Ridgway: girls’ items in the pink bedroom, boys’ items in the blue bedroom and unsorted items in the family room. 

In late June or early July, Janet begins packing boxes. She spends three hours a day until she fills over 500 shoeboxes. They deliver all the boxes to Rosemont Baptist Church in Montrose during the last week of November.

Rosemont takes the boxes to Calvary Chapel of Montrose, the local collection point, then they go on to Grand Junction and Denver. There, boxes are checked to ensure all items are age-appropriate and no forbidden items have snuck in. Finally, boxes are sent to distribution points around the world.

“In the very beginning, Mike helped me pack boxes, but when I asked him to select a plushie toy for a boy 5-9 years old, he handed me a pink rabbit…so now he just helps me shop and transport the shoeboxes,” Janet said with a laugh. “But he’s an amazing shopper, cart wrangler, box folder and partner in this mission.”

Mike, 80, added, “We’d actually planned to scale back a bit this year, but apparently the Lord isn’t done with us.” 

In early January, they received the Samaritan’s Purse magazine featuring OCC’s shoebox stories, including one about a girl from Thailand who was so grateful for the simple hairband she received in her shoebox. 

“We looked at each other and headed straight to town in the middle of a snowstorm,” said Mike.

Eight carts of Christmas markdowns later, they had started building their inventory for the year.

SPREAD JOY

The Roggeros might have scaled back operations, but Mike said Janet has some kind of bargain radar. As they travel around town on errands, Janet often urges Mike to pull in at a store where, sure enough, the perfect items for the shoeboxes are on sale. Additionally, friends notify them about store closures and large discounts on inventory that needs to go.

Janet Roggero carefully fills a shoebox with toys and essentials, demonstrating the care and love that goes into each package.

The Roggeros’ mission is even more inspiring, considering Janet’s battle with serious health and vision problems. 

“Janet has amazing strength and true grit,” said Mike. “She’s the heart of everything we do.”

Janet’s eyesight issues also inspired them to include sunglasses and readers in this year’s boxes. Her retina specialist had mentioned that eye problems are a major health issue in developing countries. Knowing this, they were guided to the right place at the right time to purchase hundreds of pairs of sunglasses at significantly reduced prices.

“Aside from spreading joy to children around the world, this mission is so meaningful because we develop relationships with store owners, employees and all kinds of people throughout the community,” they explained. “Storeowners are often grateful for our help making room for incoming merchandise, but beyond that, they nearly always become trusted friends. We feel that the Lord directs us to people who need us and who can help us with our mission.”

Pastor Rolland Kenneson of Rosemont Baptist Church said, “The Roggeros have such heart for this mission. They’ve inspired my congregation to quadruple their own giving, and they are a huge inspiration to me personally. In their search for items to fill the shoeboxes, they love on people wherever they go.”

Janet and Mike would be delighted to visit any church or organization interested in joining OCC to explain how the process works.

“We plan to continue packing shoeboxes for as long as we possibly can,” Janet said. 

If anyone happens upon bargains or wants more information, they can call or text Janet at 970-901-7144. 

The Roggeros wheel a cart loaded with gift-filled shoeboxes, ready to deliver hope to children in need.

Share the joy of a shoebox

To participate in Operation Christmas Child, visit SamaritansPurse.org/operation-christmas-child. For $25, pack a box by virtually shopping from listed items and leave it to OCC volunteers to handle the actual packing. Use the Follow Your Box feature to track the box and discover the country where the gift was delivered. Or find participating churches nationwide and pick up boxes there.