Mirroring Santa’s sleigh, C-130 aircrafts from the U.S. Department of War’s Andersen Air Force Base on the north end of Guam took to the skies this Christmas season to deliver the 270 boxes that had been prepared as part of Operation Christmas Drop — the department’s longest-running humanitarian airlift mission.
The boxes — containing items such as fishing gear, fins, school supplies, toys, food and soap — were dropped via parachute and landed in 60 islands across Micronesia, including remote islands in Yap, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Palau and Chuuk.
Flight numbers were given festive names such as “Santa 52,” and the operation’s recipients shouted for joy as they watched the boxes slide out the cargo planes’ rear doors and fall into the sky.
The base transforms into a type of Santa’s workshop
The recipients, however, were not the only ones filled with joy as a result of the operation.
Months in advance, volunteers began building collection boxes and rallying support from local businesses, families and community groups. Then, a week before the drops began, airmen, soldiers, sailors, Marines, civilians and families — including members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — gathered at the Guam base to collect, sort and pack donations.
Together, they also decorated the boxes’ exteriors to the sound of Christmas music, transforming the base’s hangar into a type of Santa’s workshop.
“I love providing opportunities for (my kids) to see hands-on service,” said a Latter-day Saint mother and operation volunteer in a release published on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. The mother explained she and her family, the Egbert family, have made Operation Christmas Drop a tradition, sponsoring their own box for the past two years.
“We had the opportunity to visit the island of Rota last January, and they (her kids) met some of the recipients in person,” she said. “It was fun for them to see it full circle. We hope this gives them a good foundation and example for giving service.”
The operation is a witness of love from ‘people afar’
For a decade, members of the Church of Jesus Christ have both volunteered at and donated items to Operation Christmas Drop. This year, Elder and Sister Brooksby — two senior humanitarian missionaries in the Micronesia Guam Mission of the church — helped handle the operation’s paperwork and volunteer coordination efforts. They estimated that about 35 of the volunteers were members of the church.
Among these volunteers were four senior missionary couples, President Fredivic Nicerio of the Barrigada Guam Stake, manager Brett Child of the church’s Guam office of self-reliance and welfare, and the Layton family. Together, they filled and decorated two of the four boxes sponsored by the church this year.
“I hope that everyone feels the love that our Savior has for everyone, especially those on the remote islands,” said President Nicerio, speaking of the operation. “These drops help (recipients) know they are loved from people afar. This Christmas Drop is a way of helping others, and that is what our Savior, Jesus Christ, wants us to do.”
Taryn Layton similarly reflected on the operation and shared this was her family’s second year participating.
“We loved seeing the faces of the people when the boxes were dropped (last year),” she said. And her husband, Grant Layton, added: “We love for our kids to gain an understanding of how people live on the islands and what their needs are. For them to know how important these supplies are to people’s lives is life changing for them.”
Operation Christmas Drop provides something more to unbox
Operation Christmas Drop traces its roots to 1952, when the crew of a B-29 Superfortress spotted residents waving from Kapingamarangi — a remote atoll located 3,500 miles southwest of Hawaii.
Moved by the scene and the spirit of Christmas, the airmen dropped a bundle of supplies by parachute, and that small gesture of goodwill sparked a tradition that has continued blessing — and surprising — hundreds of people each year.
On the island of Yap, for instance, Latter-day Saint Daniel shared how last year’s drop created an unforgettable moment when in the middle of a boat trip, he and his friend learned there would be a Christmas drop.
Daniel’s excitement was immediate, according to the church’s release.
“I had always seen things like that in a movie, but that was the first time I got to witness it in person. It was the first time I had seen a parachute in real life,” he said.
Flags had been placed in the sand to mark the drop zone, but strong currents shifted one of the markers close to Daniel. The pilots then hit the target, and quickly reaching for the box, Daniel cut the cords and lifted the parachute from the water to dry.
He later brought the parachute back to Yap’s main island, where he used it to create a shaded gathering place for friends and family — a space that is still used today.
Like Daniel, other islanders have received the boxes and repurposed the parachutes, including the parachutes’ cords — which many have found useful to make spear guns, since the strong, durable line helps them retrieve their spear after catching fish.
