Around 8 p.m. on Nov. 18 students could hear laughter and Christmas music coming from the Southeast Missouri State Baptist Student Center. Inside was not the typical meeting of people nor were they doing typical things. Inside the main room were about 30 students from the agriculture department and international students alike all packing shoeboxes for the annual tradition of Operation Christmas Child.

Operation Christmas Child is a project in which local churches and organizations across the globe pack shoeboxes full of items for children in underserved countries throughout the world. These boxes go to 120 countries'underserved children. The shoeboxes usually contain basic hygiene items such as soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste and wash cloths. The boxes also contain fun things such as toys, crayons and hair accessories. All completed boxes that contain $7 for shipping are dropped off at a location and for the Cape Girardeau area this year it is Cape Bible Chapel.

For the fifth year in a row Soles4Souls, a campus organization, brought the opportunity for Southeast students to pack boxes. For the past two years, international students and those from the Department of Agriculture have come together to pack boxes. Soles4Souls hosts an event in the spring where students can drop off gently used shoes that will be sent to those without.

"I wanted to show the students that even though our paths may not cross during the day, that we can always come together for a common good," Cheryl Reinagel, Soles4Souls campus adviser, said.

Reinagel said her goal for that night not only was to pack as many boxes as possible, but also to give students the opportunity to talk and become friends with those they may have never gotten the opportunity to meet before.

This was Southeast student Aaron Amarasekena's second year participating in the event. Amarasekena, who from Sri Lanka, said he enjoys the event because he gets to get together with fellow students for a common cause. Amarasekena said his favorite part happens months after the boxes are shipped off and the campus receives a video to watch of the children opening the boxes that they packed.

"My friend asked if I wanted to go and I thought 'why not?'" Brazilian native and freshman Ricardo Ashimi said. This was Ashimi's first time participating in the event. He said he hopes these boxes bring smiles to the faces of children who may not have a reason to smile.

"The event has definitely evolved and grown over the years," Katie Baldwin, a senior and president of the Soles4Souls chapter on campus, said.

Baldwin has held the position of president of Soles4Souls for the past three years. She also said it is fun to meet students who she would have never been able spend time with usually and doing something that is for the good of others.

Though no goal has been set for the students to achieve this year, a rough estimate would be a couple hundred boxes packed by students, according to Reinagel. She said for the region, which will include several churches and organizations on and off campus, about 20,000 boxes will be packed and sent.