Secular group aims to stop Operation Christmas Child in public schools

A secular organization wants school districts to prevent students from participating in Operation Christmas Child, an annual program which distributes gifts to children in need all over the world.

The American Humanist Association (AHA) filed a lawsuit in Denver as an effort to prevent Colorado schoolchildren from taking part in putting together Christmas gift boxes that include the "opportunity...to faithfully follow Jesus Christ."

The contents of the boxes include toys, school supplies, hygiene items and Christian literature.

According to a report from Religion News Service, AHA is representing three families who complained that the said activity violates the separation of church and state.

"This is not like a soup kitchen where, even if it is run through a church, there is no proselytizing," said Monica Miller, legal counsel for AHA's Appignani Humanist Legal Center.

"Operation Christmas Child puts religious tracts in the boxes after they are assembled and the school district may not align itself with any religious organization," she added.

The humanist group has previously attempted to prevent schools from participating in the Christmas drive. In 2013, AHA sent "letters of warning" to school districts in South Carolina and Colorado that had allowed Operation Christmas Child into its classrooms.

The South Carolina school decided to stop the activities related to the drive. The Colorado school. however, did not heed AHA's warning which led the humanist group to file the lawsuit in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In Morgan County, Tennessee, it is not the students who are participating in Operational Christmas Child.

Paula Sewell, a collection coordinator for Operation Christmas Child, reached out to Morgan County Correctional Complex two years ago when she realized that she needed extra help in packing the boxes.

The inmates at the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex and the Northeast Correctional Facility not only helped out in packing but they also crafted wooden toys to be included in the boxes.

The inmates work all year round to produce wooden toys, cars and planes. Robert Hill, a carpenter instructor at the prison, said that making the toys help give the prisoners a sense of accomplishment.

"Once they realize what it's for, then they realize that's a way that they can give back," said Hill.