MADISON (WKOW) -- It's obviously not about the boxes, but what's inside them that matters.
Jan Kicmol can attest to that. She's Someone You Should Know."
Kicmol has spent more than 30 years caring for kids as a nurse, she's currently in the pediatric unit at Dean Clinic. Jan knows the smile a stuffed animal can put on a child's face.
But the little furry friend isn't for a patient, it's for a child in another country.
"Just trying to bring some hope and joy to some kids that haven't had much in their lives," said Kicmol. "A lot of them probably have never gotten a gift ever."
For 12 years now, Jan has worked with Operation Christmas Child, a program through the Christian organization Samaritan's Purse.
The goal is to collect shoe boxes stuffed to the rim with toys and essentials, like a toothbrush and school supplies.
The boxes are then sent to children in more than 100 countries suffering from disaster, war, disease, and poverty.
"(A) pencil or pad of paper can make such a difference because a lot of the kids aren't able to go to school if they don't have their own pencils or paper and most of them don't."
This year, she finally got to see the fruits of her labor. Kicmol recently traveled to the Dominican Republic and saw first hand the joy a shoebox can bring.
"We did seven distributions when I was there, and probably 200 to 300 kids in each distribution, they were packed in like sardines and they go 'uno, dos, tres' and on three they can open their box and there's just all this screaming and excitement."
"Just seeing their faces that will be something that's with me forever."
There's one face she'll never forget. "There's this one little girl," said Kicmol, "She held out this picture to me. She would like rub it up against her face like it was, she couldn't believe that this little boy had made this box for her and sent it to her from across the world."
The Madison area donated nearly 9,000 shoeboxes in the last year, part of eight million across the nation.
"It's just so nice to give, and you know feel that joy of giving and that some little child that doesn't know you and you're going to make a difference and make them really happy."
The need doesn't end. There are more than 1.5 billion children under the age of 15 across the globe. "Probably won't happen in my lifetime but the goal is to reach all the children in the world."
If you'd like to help Jan Kicmol reach that goal, you don't have to wait. This year's national collection drive is November 16th through the 23rd. So you have a little time to shop for bargains to fill even more shoeboxes.
For more information on Operation Christmas Child click http://occmadison.org/
