Chocolate Spoons for Wheelchairs

Each year at Orange City Christian School, we look for a project to bless others during the Christmas season. We believe that it is important to help our student focus beyond their own material wishes and ponder the true gift of Christmas by looking for ways to help others. This year we partnered with the Luke Society, which is an organization that helps doctors and their medical work with those less fortunate in their native countries. They not only provide desperate medical aid, but also bring the message of the gospel to the patients they come into contact with. It is often a very difficult and challenging job for the doctors and their families.

The doctor we were able to help this year is from China. He is a quadriplegic, and his mission with the Luke Society is to specifically help the poor in his country that need prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs. For every $50 we raised, we were able to provide him with a wheelchair to use as a means of not only providing someone with a new physical outlook on life, but a spiritual one as well.

As a school, we were able to raise almost $5,000 which will provide nearly 100 wheelchairs for this ministry. This total was thanks, in part, to first grader Abby De Vries, who decided it would be a good idea to raise money to donate to the project. In all, Abby raised $400 for the project by making and selling chocolate spoons used for dipping and stirring in hot chocolate. Here were the questions we asked and answers from Abby and her parents, Eric & Holly:

Q: When did you come up with the idea about raising money for the Christmas Giving Project?

A: Abby wanted to raise money for wheelchairs, so we looked at Pinterest for an idea of something simple she could make.

Q: Who actually came up with the idea of selling chocolate spoons?

A: Abby was the one who saw the spoons and thought it was something she could do. We do a lot of projects in the kitchen involving candy melts and sprinkles so it was definitely something she felt like she could do.

Q: What experience do you have in making chocolate spoons? Is is a family tradition?

A: We have never made chocolate spoons before.

Q: How many spoons did you initially make?

A: Initially, we made 100 spoons. I posted them for sale on facebook (not swap, just friends) with a description about the giving project and suggested a donation of $1 per spoon.

Q: Was it hard to find people to buy the chocolate spoons?

A: Within 3 minutes we had all 100 sold and received orders for 200 more spoons over the next 3 hours. We had no idea they would be so popular or how many we would sell, thinking 100 was a lofty goal.

Q: Did you have to make more to keep up with the high demand?

A: We made a last minute trip to Hobby Lobby and bought every wood spoon on the shelf to fill our orders. We had to post "sold out" after those 300 were sold because we had no more supplies, even though Abby was ready to make more! Our customers were generous and gave more than the suggested donation. Abby had a lot of fun with this project and she enjoyed seeing the generosity of others.

As we celebrate this Christmas season, may we remember the generosity of our Heavenly Father in giving us His Son, and may we, like Abby, find ways to give our own time and talents to love and serve those around us. Merry Christmas from OCCS!