RUMFORD — A teacher at Holy Savior School, and her students helped spread holiday cheer by donating Christmas gifts to a needy child in Ecuador.

Kindergarten teacher Malia Letourneau said Operation Christmas Child is organized by Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical Christian humanitarian organization headed by the Rev. Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham.

“I’m not sure how long the program has been going, but this is our first year doing it here at Holy Savior,” Letourneau said. “When I was a little girl, I would participate in the program with my nana. I always had a great time doing it, so I thought it would be nice to get my students involved.”

Principal Barbara Pelletier said, “We put many things in the box, including clothes, stuffed animals, a jump rope, a ball, coloring books, markers, a paper pad and a flashlight with extra batteries.”

Letourneau said the children got to choose whether the box would go to a boy or a girl and were able to choose the age range of the child receiving the gifts.

“The kids were really excited to choose which items would go into the box,” Letourneau said. “We get a list of suggested items from the Samaritan’s Purse, and we got to narrow it down to the items we think would be the most popular. As a Catholic school, a lot of what we talk about is how we should help others and do right by other people, so this was the perfect program for the students.”

Letourneau added that she’s hoping to make Operation Christmas Child an annual event at Holy Savior School.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com

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