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Christmas spirit lives all year at Spectrum CPA Partners
Spectrum CPA giving 2019
Sheri Yager prepares to deliver some of the gifts that Spectrum CPA Partners collected and packaged for Operation Christmas Child. Yager is a staff accountant at the Great Bend firm.
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If the increase in the number of gifts for Operation Christmas Child is any indication, the spirit of the season is snowballing at Spectrum CPA Partners.

In its first year of participation in the project, the local accounting firm collected and packaged six gift boxes. That number increased to 32 last year.

Now in their third year, the Spectrum staff assembled 53 gift boxes.

“We are so pleased that this project is continuing to grow,” said Joni Haines, Spectrum office manager. “It gives us great joy to put smiles on the faces of so many children.” 

Spectrum is part of a year-long effort to provide gifts for children affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, famine and disease around the globe. Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organization.

Donations were collected throughout the year before being boxed and shipped to Operation Christmas Child’s hub in Denver for delivery around the world.  For some of the children, this could be the only gift they receive for Christmas, Haines said

“Although the gifts we collected here are on their way to being delivered, we are already thinking about Christmas of 2020,” Haines noted. “This is just one of Spectrum’s community-service projects; we encourage businesses, churches and other entities to become involved.”

Anyone who wants to participate may stop by the Spectrum office, 1400 Polk, anytime during the year with gifts that fit into a shoebox. The staff will package the gifts and distribute the shoeboxes in November next year.

Examples of gifts include school supplies; personal hygiene items; toys; flashlights and batteries; shoes and socks; crayons; and small blankets.

Operation Christmas Child also has a list of items that are discouraged. These include candy; toothpaste; gum; food; breakable items; aerosol cans; and anything that is used or damaged.

The Spectrum gifts were sent to First Church of the Nazarene, Great Bend, before being shipped to Denver. The ultimate destinations are churches throughout the world. Items in the shoeboxes are sorted into age and gender categories; when they reach the Denver hub, they are opened for inspection.

For more information, contact Spectrum by calling 620-792-5378.