Students playing with some of their Shoebox Christmas gifts. Photos courtesy of Rev. Lou Whitmer.

For over a dozen years, North Highland UMC in Aberdeen, South Dakota has organized the portion of Shoebox Christmas that goes to Enemy Swim Day School in Waubay, South Dakota.  The student population ranges from Pre-Kindergarten to 8^th grade, and generally involves 150 to 175 students. In years past, the Missions Committee from North Highland would receive Shoebox gifts and then work on equalizing them. “We would often end up emptying all of the boxes and starting over”, said Pastor Lou Whitmer. “It would take several days, and we always needed to purchase several items.” Members of the committee would then refill boxes according to age of the students, working to make them as similar as possible.

“It is really important that gifts are as similar as possible, because we go into each classroom, and stay with them as they look at their gifts, so it can’t look like we are playing favorite to any child,” added Nancy Miller, a long-serving member of the committee.

Among the most popular gifts were glove and candy snow people, which were made by the youth at the North Highland church.

For several years there was a desire to do a reset of the process and maintain the mission. The first attempt at resetting was to ask some of the churches who gave Shoebox gifts to take a classroom, and additionally the North Highland crew purchased the gifts for the 7^th and 8^th graders, which always seemed to be the most difficult age group. “By the time they are in middle school, receiving gifts from outsiders feels a little more awkward, so we first started by just dropping off their gifts and not staying in the room while they opened them,” noted Whitmer. “Then we began making sure their gifts were very age-specific.”

Christmas 2020 provided the first step toward a reset. The school was not meeting in-person and asked that any gifts be delivered in January. The church was also aware that the number of shoebox gifts being assembled that year for Spirit Lake Ministries was extremely low, and they didn’t want further reduce those numbers. The only request from Enemy Swim Day School was that each child receive a good new mask. Because it was going to be after Christmas, the committee settled on each child receiving a fuzzy blanket, something fun, and a new mask.

“A couple of area churches provided either blankets or money which helped us purchase items," explained Miller. On January 29^th, 162 Target bags containing the gifts were delivered and the children were thrilled with the unexpected gifts on a Friday. Their enthusiasm for a different kind of gift provided the impetus for change.

Pastor Whitmer said that the Northland missions committee was uncertain how to move forward more independently, so that Spirit Lake Ministry could receive more of the area Shoebox gifts. “Then in casual conversation as we were preparing for Coats for Kids, I mentioned our conundrum. How could we continue this while making changes, especially in light of the extra costs that would be incurred”, she said. Committee member Paula Carlson mentioned the Columbia UCC church, and noted they appreciate similar kinds of missions but had fewer people to do the work. Carlson contacted them, and the next day a partnership was born with a substantial financial gift. North Highland was also grateful to continue partnering with the Conde UMC and Frederick-Leola UMC who also provided contributions.

The North Highland missions committee renamed the project ESDS Christmas Express, though it was understood that it continued under the umbrella of Spirit Lake Ministry Shoebox Christmas. The Youth Group, Youth Group Jr., and confirmation class got involved with shopping, sorting, and packing as each grade was considered individually. The older youth used some of their money and made each student a craft of "glove and candy snow people," which were a hit with the recipients.  The congregation signed up for specific items to be purchased.
The entire project for 158 students came close to $6,000. Each child received a fun warm blanket, and a backpack filled with a mix of practical and fun items. “We have always included toothbrush, toothpaste, hat, gloves, and body wash/shampoo,” noted Carlson, “and it’s fun to see them equally excited about those items as they are the toys.”

The gifts were delivered on December 21^st. Prior to initiating these changes there were several conversations with staff at the school, particularly inquiring about the needs. “We were told that close to 70% of the children really need these Christmas gifts”, said Pastor Whitmer, “and while that was sobering it also gave us an even greater desire to both continue and to grow this project and ecumenical partnership." Miller concluded, “Our relationship with Enemy Swim Day School has grown so much over the years. This project is very important to our church and we involve as many people as we can in this mission. There is as much joy for those giving the gifts as the students who receive them.”