Father, family, drives 14 hours to deliver OCC shoeboxes

A professional truck driver says a task he has been doing for more than a decade is one way he can serve Jesus.

For the past 14 years, Ryan Banman and his family has been driving 14 hours straight to bring thousands of Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes from Winnipeg to Calgary.

"I started doing it the year after Hurricane Katrina," he says. "I wanted to do something to take down but FEMA was not allowing it."

Instead, Banman looked locally.

"Our church at this time was doing Operation Christmas Child and I thought well, boxes from Winnipeg have to get to somewhere."

That year, Banman made the trek for the first time.

"It is just something that I can do in return, to service Jesus. He has blessed with a good job and our family and everything that we have."

Banman comes from a line of truck drivers and on occasion, his father will help him with the OCC drive. 

The OCC trip is a family affair, Banman brings his kids along, and his wife. He says his wife is from Colombia and understands the need for shoeboxes.

"I do not understand growing up in situations like that and it is something we can do as a family and give back."

He says the 14-hour trip, which happens most years, is a family activity. They do it each year without a second thought.