Template Letter to School

Dear [HEADTEACHER'S NAME],

Having received a note regarding [SCHOOL NAME]'s shoebox collection for Operation Christmas Child in my child's contact book today, I felt it important to contact you regarding my thoughts and feelings on this charity and to explain why I will not be contributing. Of course, charitable giving is extremely important, but I believe that the ulterior motives and hidden agendas of Operation Christmas Child negate any shred of good they do.

Samaritan's Purse - the organisation that distributes the donations - inserts religious material into the box before shipping. As the boxes are shipped out to countries all over the world, it is important to recognise the many differing religions therein. I believe that inserting religious propaganda into these charitable gifts displays complete ignorance and intolerance of other people's cultures. For example, over 7000 boxes went to Azerbaijan in 2012 - a country with a population that is over 93% Muslim. Similarly, 29,980 boxes went to Kosovo, where over 95% of the population belong to Islam.

Furthermore, Samaritan's Purse give financial support to campaigns against marriage equality. In America, the charity gave over $150,000 in support of the North Carolina Marriage Amendment, which aimed to stop the state from recognising or performing same-sex marriages or civil unions. I believe it wholly hypocritical and inappropriate for a charity affiliated with a religion that teaches its followers to "judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1) should judge others in such a way. Homophobia is something I hope my child will always speak up against, and I would like to think [HIS/HER] school would teach the same message. By supporting a charity so outward in its homophobic views, I believe [SCHOOL NAME] is in danger of also being affiliated with them. As offensive as homophobia is, it is downright dangerous for Operation Christmas Child to be sending toys with which Samaritan's Purse can win supporters in countries where the penalty for homosexuality is death (Uganda - 7455 boxes received in 2012).

The official mission statement of Samaritan's Purse - “Meeting the critical needs of victims of war, poverty, famine, disease, and natural disaster while sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ” - is completely unapologetic in its admission of bribery; the charity will indeed provide relief and help to those in great need, but only if they also accept their evangelism. I find this practise completely abhorrent, don't you?

I am thoroughly disappointed to see a school which I have so far found to have strong inclusion policies and a zero-tolerance approach towards bullying supporting such a charity, and I do hope you reconsider. There are several alternative charities who offer aid and support without any strings attached, such as The Rotary Shoebox Scheme or Unicef.

The majority of people who give gifts to Operation Christmas Child are completely unaware of the evangelism that the charity insists upon as a condition of its aid, and I can only hope that [SCHOOL NAME] is among these. It is a great shame that the generosity of spirit with which teachers, parents and friends collect and donate is then marred by the charity's damaging messages and hate-filled propaganda. There is still time for [SCHOOL NAME] to reassess its decision to give to Operation Christmas Child and find an alternative, and I strongly urge you to do so. For further reading on the vile practises of Operation Christmas Child and Samaritan's Purse, please see the Innovative Minds website or this Guardian article.

I do hope I've given you food for thought, and this will lead to your decision to associate a wonderful school like [SCHOOL NAME] to a genuinely philanthropic charity this Christmas, instead of Operation Christmas Child.

Kind regards,

[YOUR NAME]