It’s official – Charleston Southern University has packed the most Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes of any college or university in the U.S. for the seventh year in a row.
This year is Charleston Southern’s 14th year of packing the red and green shoebox gifts as a university. Since 2019, the CSU family has packed 77,488 boxes for children around the world. Total number of boxes packed for 2025 is 14,100.
“This is an impactful mission for our campus of just over 4,000 to pack more than 14,000 gifts for children ages 2 to 14 in more than 100 nations around the globe,” said Jenna Johnson, executive director of marketing and communication at CSU. “Each shoebox represents a child who has likely never received any gift, much less something new. Not only are they receiving a gift of love and joy from clear across the world in South Carolina, they are also receiving the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The campus works on collecting supplies and donations throughout the year. Students, clubs and organizations, residence halls, and faculty and staff departments bring their boxes on OCC Collection Day, and the remainder of the shoeboxes are filled at the OCC Packing Party.
Top Individual Student Packers:
-
Amy Francis, freshman – undecided
-
DJ Brummett, senior aeronautics – professional pilot major
-
Graycee Dorner, junior prelaw & legal studies major
Top Staff Packers:
-
President’s Office + Provost’s Office — averaged 108.5 boxes per person for a total of 651 shoeboxes
-
Marketing and Communication (MarComm) — averaged 72.1 boxes per person for a total of 505 shoeboxes
-
Enrollment — averaged 30.5 boxes per person for a total of 914 shoeboxes
Top Faculty Packers:
-
College of Nursing — averaged 12.7 boxes per person for a total of 267 shoeboxes
-
College of Education — averaged 8.4 boxes per person for a total of 202 shoeboxes
-
College of Health Sciences — averaged 3.8 boxes per person for a total of 123 shoeboxes
Charleston Southern University is grateful for the 40-plus companies and groups who partner with CSU to support this initiative, including PetSmart, Extra Room Storage, Ecclesia Construction Company, HisRadio, Cumulus Media, Mt. Holly Century Aluminum, Kion, and so many more.