Homewood resident partners with Trak Shak to spread Christmas cheer overseas

Like many other local runners, Homewood resident Noel Graham frequents the Trak Shak to shop for running gear.

A few years ago, though, Graham began partnering with the Trak Shak owners in a unique way. The employees at the store would ask customers if they would like to donate the shoebox, and Graham would fill the donated boxes with Christmas gifts that were then sent to children around the world.

Graham and her team pack and donate the shoeboxes under the direction of Operation Christmas Child, which is an annual event put on by the Samaritan’s Purse International charity organization. In addition to giving to children in need, this project also spreads “the good news about Jesus,” Graham said. She has done this project for the past five years with Sandra Jones and Emmagene Crunk, two women she met from running, along with her daughter, Sarah Marra, who drives down from South Carolina to pack boxes.

In previous years, the team has had to purchase shoeboxes. The boxes are cheap, but this cost nonetheless leaves less room in the budget for toys and gifts to stuff into the boxes.

“So three years ago as we were brainstorming about where to get shoeboxes from, one of them thought, ‘Hey, maybe the Trak Shak will donate shoeboxes to us,” Graham said. “We thought it would be nice to have them donated so we could spend more money on the children.”

The group approached Jeff Martinez, one of the co-owners of the Trak Shak.

“When she told me what the shoeboxes would go toward, we couldn’t refuse,” Martinez said. “Obviously it’s a good cause. Otherwise, the shoeboxes would just be recycled — which is great too — but I just feel like this is a better use of those boxes. Unfortunately, when a lot of folks get home, the boxes get thrown away, so this is a much better use for them.”

The Trak Shak has a shoe trade-in program that allows customers to receive $10 off their new shoes when they donate an old pair of shoes. The donated shoes are donated overseas or to local charities like The Well House and Jimmie Hale Mission.

“So it’s a cycle of things: Folks come in and turn in their old shoes, and when they buy new shoes, they say, ‘We don’t need the box,’” Martinez said. “So then we use that box for Noel and her cause, and the shoes get redistributed to these other charities.”

Graham visits the Trak Shak every week to pick up boxes. Graham said they get more boxes donated each year, and in 2020, the Trak Shak donated 250 boxes to Graham and her team. Those boxes, combined with others Graham had, helped the team reach their highest mark ever this year, donating a total of 361 stuffed shoeboxes.

Graham has a room in her house dedicated to storing the shoeboxes until August or September of each year, which is when the team gets together for a few days to have a packing party. But the room stays full year-round —once the packing party is over, Graham is already on the hunt for bargain deals for the items she will use to stuff into next year’s shoeboxes.

There are three categories of items that Graham and her team try to purchase. One is practical items such as school supplies.

“They really encourage that because a lot of the children who get these shoeboxes cannot go to school unless they have their own paper, pencil, etc.,” Graham said. “So we try to give every child a notebook, crayons, markers, pencils — just a good, solid pack of school supplies.”

The next category she said they try to hit is personal hygiene products. They try to give every child soap, a washcloth, deodorant and a toothbrush.

“You wouldn’t believe the stories where the children will go, ‘Oh thanks, I was sharing a toothbrush with my nine brothers and sisters,’” Graham said.

The final category is fun things: stuffed animals, coloring books, LEGOs, Tic-Tac-Toe sets, toy trucks, sewing items and more.

The Trak Shak boxes work well. In contrast to a pair of flip flops, a pair of running shoes comes in a larger box, so Graham and her team are able to fit many items into each box.

“My husband said one time, ‘How do you get all of that in a shoebox?’” Graham said, laughing. “I’m like, you just have to learn how to pack it. There’s an art to it: you get your flat things in and then you learn to smush them together. And you put a rubber band around it when you’re done so there’s a way to keep it together.”

The women have plenty to laugh about during their packing parties. Each year, they lay out 600-700 pairs of socks on a table to be stuffed in the shoeboxes. And every year, someone will accidentally put three socks into a box instead of two.

“Inevitably, at some point, we’ll lookdown at the table, and there will be an odd sock,” Graham said. “One year I did go back through the boxes, and after about 40 boxes, I found the sock that matched. We always laugh about the odd sock.”

Before sealing the box, they add a handwritten note.

“It’s just a few sentences that say ‘God loves you, and we love you, too, and we packed this box just for you,’” Graham said. “It’s interesting, because you can go on the Operation Christmas Child website and read stories about children getting their boxes, and so many of them will say, ‘I’ve never had anyone write me a note before.’ Something we take for granted is really precious to them, so that’s why we do a handwritten note in every box.”

Graham has already begun writing handwritten notes for next year’s boxes, and as she writes the notes, she prays for her children.

“It’s another way to connect with them spiritually, even if we can’t be there physically,” she said.

The team prays over their boxes, too. “We’re constantly thinking about the children and wondering about them and continue to pray for them after their boxes leave our hands.”

In November, Graham took all of the stuffed shoeboxes to her church during National Collection Week at Operation Christmas Child. From there, the boxes are shipped around the world. There is a new feature where those who donate boxes can track where they go, and Graham said last year the boxes traveled to Mali, South Sudan, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic.

One thing Graham said she enjoys about the process is reliving her childhood memories and seeing how toys have changed or stayed the same throughout the years. She also said she enjoys giving to the children.

“There’s something about giving to people you know … but to give to a child you don’t know, that you may never hear about, there’s something that elevates that to a higher plane,” she said. “I think that’s the essence of giving — not wanting or expecting anything back, but giving out of your heart. My whole team has a passion for that.”