In a past life, local Canmore bylaw peace officer Rick Lamothe was director for Operation Christmas Child in West Central Africa, and the experience had such a profound impact he wants to share it with other likeminded community members.
Lamothe wishes to organize a team from the Bow Valley to go to Africa for next April-May to experience a trip with a seasoned visitor and see the impact a little shoebox filled with presents can make in a child’s life.
“I’m just trying to promote and get the word out and now is always the time where people think about it because Christmas is around the corner. That’s when there is also a national collection of shoeboxes in Canada and the U.S.,” Lamothe said. “I’m trying to form a 10- to 15-member team, because for a lot of people going to Africa is on their bucket list.”
Operation Christmas Child is a yearly program coordinated by Samaritan’s Purse, a program that collects gift-filled shoeboxes from donors and distributes them to children in the developing world. Samaritan’s Purse Canada is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization that has been providing aid to people around the globe since 1973.
“They do a lot of humanitarian, disaster relief, crisis intervention and, of course, one of their biggest programs is Operation Christmas Child,” said Lamothe. “They collect shoeboxes of gifts around Christmas time and then deliver them all around the world. Canada specifically has about 15 countries they deliver to, and when I was working there I was in charge of seven African countries.”
The trip Lamothe is planning would be from April 27 to May 9 to Senegal, with Lamothe offering firsthand experience on the area.
“I was one to bring teams to Africa. We take them to the safest place, which is Senegal. It’s easy to get into and people speak French and English and we also have translators,” Lamothe said. “It’s all run by volunteers in the country and I know the team there very well because I was actually leading them and they are the best team – we deliver about 160,000 shoeboxes in Senegal.”
Lamothe says he’s been there so many times it’s his second home.
“When I retire from this job I would love to be able to be back there even for a month; they are the humblest and most amazing people that do amazing things for their own people,” Lamothe said. “It’s crazy how a little shoebox is making some major headway; even some politicians are saying we need to come alongside Operation Christmas Child because they’re making a difference in the lives of these kids.
“The best thing for a kid in poverty, because I’ve seen it firsthand, is school supplies, health items, toys and clothing, fun stuff, but practical stuff.”
For more information on Lamothe’s upcoming trip to Senegal, reach him at [email protected] or call 587-227-6932.
