BBCC club donates to Christmas charity

MOSES LAKE - A Big Bend Community College student group donated more than 125 Christmas gift packages to a charity sending the packages all over the world.

Students and staff in the TRiO Upward Bound program raised money, bought presents and filled boxes for Operation Christmas Child. One of the club's advisors has personal experience with the program - she received a gift through the charity during her childhood in Ukraine.

"I remember the moment like it was yesterday," said Katya Kozlov, a TRiO Upward Bound academic advisor. "I received a pair of white Nike shoes and they were just my size. I will never forget the experience and how it made me feel."

TRiO student ambassadors from Moses Lake, Othello, Royal, Warden and Lake Roosevelt High School in the Grand Coulee School District raised $742 through a fundraiser and local business and individual donations. The group also sponsored a Halloween dance at the Warden Community Center.

Operation Christmas Child was started in 1993 and is sponsored by Samaritan's Purse International Relief, according to the organization. Participants decorate a shoe box and fill it with Christmas gifts. Participants provide $7 per box to pay shipping and project costs.

In its 19 years of operation, Operation Christmas Child delivered more than 85 million shoe boxes to children in 138 countries, according to the organization.

The TRiO students dropped off the boxes at Lake City Foursquare Church in Moses Lake, the gathering site for the area.

The Upward Bound program provides academic support, career awareness, college preparation skills and other support services to low-income and potential first generation college students, said Doug Sly, the college's public information officer.