Medical students collect 60 gift boxes for children in need

Second-year medical students Jessie Moore

and Rachel Emig coordinated an Operation

Christmas Child campaign.

A gift box campaign organized by two second-year medical students at the USA College of Medicine is sending 60 gifts to children around the world during the holidays.

Earlier this fall, Jessie Moore of Huntsville and Rachel Emig of Tuscaloosa coordinated an Operation Christmas Child campaign and invited faculty and fellow students to participate. The project is affiliated with Samaritan’s Purse, a faith-based relief organization.

Within weeks, donors contributed 60 shoeboxes filled with necessities and toys, and the students took them to a distribution site for delivery.

“We prayed for 25 boxes, and the Lord blessed this project greater than we could have imagined,” Moore said. “We would like to thank the staff and students at the College of Medicine, including the Christian Medical Ministry of South Alabama and the Pediatric Interest Group as our sponsors, along with family and friends. There will be some extremely excited children this Christmas season and into next year.”

Moore and Emig, who became friends as undergraduates at Mississippi State University, said they grew up participating in Operation Christmas Child at their hometown churches. “It is a tangible way to demonstrate God’s love to kids around the world,” Moore said.