Sandy DeChristofaro was both exhausted and very happy around 9 p.m. Saturday at the culmination of the semi-annual Operation Shoebox Chinese Auction. Twice each year, Operation Shoebox takes over Lake Miona Recreation Center around 5 p.m. when crowds of 500-600 people file into the main ballroom and four meeting rooms to bid on hundreds of prizes.
After months of hard work organizing this fundraiser with dozens of helpers, Sandy finally would be able to relax. “We generally raise about $10,000 each time we have a Chinese auction,” Sandy beamed, “and it all goes toward postage to send packages to our troops.” The club expends around $200,000 in shipping costs each year, and last November, Operation Shoebox mailed its one- millionth package.
 In 2003, president Mary Harper of Belleview founded Operation Shoebox. She had four sons, a daughter and a son-in-law all deployed in Iraq at the same time. The group began operations in The Villages the following year. Sandy, who serves as vice president and director of Villages operations, praised volunteers Kathy Dilks and Carol Ide who put together dozens of beautiful of gift baskets, using donated items and gift certificates from area residents and businesses. “We could not do what we do without dozens and dozens of hard-working volunteers, and without the generous support of the community,” Sandy said. “We are grateful for all of them, and for the public who supports our fundraisers.”
At a round table in one of the meeting rooms, Barbara Lovett, Barbara Segrich and Florence Bittle, all from the Village of Fernandina, sat with three friends from the Village of Bonita: Mary Zappone, Maryann McGowan and Marge Grachocki, They organized their own little party with a table full of finger foods and snacks, and were having a grand time. Rae M. White, who moved to the Village of Sanibel only nine months ago, felt very much at home in the main theater room. “This is where I sit every Monday for Operation Shoebox,” Rae
said. She cuts out stockings and draw-string ditty bags at home and brings them to Lake Miona. “There is an assembly line here,” Rae said, “very well organized. Volunteers in another room with sewing machines stitch the bags for shipping. The stockings are used around the December holidays and the ditty bags are used other times of the year. Other Villagers knit helmet liners for our military, and put little angels inside which say: May this angel watch over you.“
Along three walls of the large Lake Miona theater, there are tables laden with hundreds of  ‘blue ticket’ gifts. Among the many donated goods and services for auction were hair salon appointments, restaurant gift cards, golf lessons, car care and shuttle services, baskets with wine and spirits, and many hand-made items for children and the home. Along the front of the stage were the higher-value ‘pink ticket’ items, including original artwork, handmade dolls, weekend hotel stays and collections of brandies and liqueurs — something for everyone. The prizes which attracted the most tickets included a karaoke machine; free rounds of golf and Keurig coffeemakers. Befitting the evening before Mother’s Day, several baskets contained perfumed soaps, skin care products and delicate items ‘for Mom’ or ‘Grandma’ along with embroidered pillows.
The next Operation Shoebox Chinese auction is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 4 — same time, same place. Sandy DeChristofaro hopes readers will mark their calendars to attend the event, and even think about items they might donate for auction. Additionally, Operation Shoebox will run a benefit cruise in November to Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas. She hopes many area residents consider joining the group for that lively vacation.
