Covenant Christian Academy, located at 1601 Chestnut Street, was founded as a nonprofit in 2018 and continues to thrive today, despite being small in numbers. Since the school's opening, school administrator, Angela Howdershelt, has led the charge for the "Samaritan's Purse" project which the school has participated every year.
"Samaritan's Purse" is an online, nonprofit organization committed to helping people around the world. They offer several options for how one can assist a family or child in need overseas which includes, but is not limited to: Operation Christmas Child, International Crisis Response, The Greatest Journey, Medical Mission, etc. "Samaritan's Purse" recently offered another fundraiser to help aid the families who fell victim to Hurricane Helene.
The Journal joined Angela Howdershelt in the school cafeteria for a brief chat about the 2024 "Samaritan's Purse" project which Covenant Christian Academy is part of. "This year, we're packing boxes. We have more students, so we have a goal of packing 20 boxes," the administrator and elementary school director stated.
The boxes are part of "Operation Christmas Child," which, according to their website is their mission to "...demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to children in need around the world." This will be the school's seventh consecutive year of packing boxes for "Operation Christmas Child." The boxes are actually shoeboxes which contain a number of items such as toothbrushes, stuffed animals, flashlights, Legos, and school supplies. "I heard the number one favorite gift around the world is a soccer ball, but you have to order deflated soccer balls because they don't fit into boxes easily," Howdershelt said.
Covenant Christian Academy is currently accepting donations from its students and faculty until the last week in October. Members of the community who wish to give to the project can reach out to Angela Howdershelt at the school at 540-862-1958. It is worth noting that liquid items such as toothpaste and shampoo cannot be sent overseas and should not be purchased.
Once the shoeboxes are filled, they will be packaged and taken to Covington Bible Church. Covington Bible Church, who is also preparing boxes for "Operation Christmas Child," will then take over the project and see to it that the boxes are donated to "Samaritan's Purse."
After the project wraps in early November, Covenant Christian Academy plans to start a new project that will aid someone in the community. Howdershelt noted, "We're going to start gearing up for a Christmas project that would have to do with the local community, how we can reach out and bless those in this community, and it was suggested that there are some elderly shut-ins or even those in the nursing homes that may have some needs that the students could help meet." That project is still in the early stages, but the Journal hopes to know more at a later time.
|  | A donation box currently sits in the sanctuary at the school, waiting to be filled.
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