How Richard Paul Evans’ ‘The Christmas Box’ Helps Children

His novels, over 40 of them, have sold over 35 million copies and have been translated into 24 languages. The predominant theme is Christmas, dating back to his first book, “The Christmas Box”, a self-published (early) bestseller that launched the unlikely career of an author whom The New York Times referred to as “The King. of Christmas fiction “. “

His latest in the series, “The Promise of Christmas,” debuted this month at No.7 on The Times bestseller list. Like its many predecessors, it is a heartwarming story about the search for peace and meaning on Christmas.

But Richard Paul Evans is yet to write what could be his biggest Christmas story yet.

And unlike the others, this one is true.

* * *

It all started when he lost an election.

In 1992, 29-year-old Richard, who worked for a Salt Lake advertising agency, decided to run for a seat in the Utah Legislature. Young, brash and full of ideas, he was convinced he would win. He did not do it.

Suddenly, the aspiring politician had some free time. Never one to sit still, he decided to see if he could accomplish another of his goals and write a book. After election day he spent the next four weeks producing a short manuscript which he called “The Christmas Box”.

In his Kinkos neighborhood, he bound 27 copies, tied a plastic cover, and distributed them to friends and family in time for Christmas.

The feedback he received was so positive and encouraging that he sent manuscripts to Deseret Book and Bookcraft, Utah’s two largest publishers at the time. The two sent him rejection letters.

Intrepid, he self-published 7,000 copies and began soliciting bookstores to place his book. One thing led to another and before he knew it he had landed at # 2 on something he didn’t even know existed – the New York Times self-published bestseller list .

This caught the attention of several New York publishers, who began an auction for this little Utah news. Simon & Schuster won with a bid of $ 4.2 million. At just 16,452 words, “The Christmas Box” took its place among the best dollar-for-dollar deals in publishing history.

The book was published nationwide just before Christmas 1995. It quickly rose to No. 1 on the published bestseller list and stayed there for six weeks. Newsweek called it “The Most Popular Holiday Tale since Tiny Tim”.

This left Richard and his wife Keri with the enviable problem of what to do with their newfound wealth.

There was no manual for this. They thought about setting up a trust fund for their two young daughters, until a financial advisor told them horror stories about what inherited wealth can do to their offspring.

This led to this thought, “Well, why not give some of it? “

Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Since the theme of “The Christmas Box” was to make sure the kids were loved and not overlooked, they decided they wanted to do something to help the kids.

In 1996, just months after securing their boon, Richard and Keri began building a shelter in South Salt Lake that would provide a safe haven for abused and neglected children.

A few months later, the $ 1.5 million they budgeted for the project had turned into $ 2.5 million, and they were strapped for cash.

Fortunately, Richard’s next book, “Timepiece,” published in time for Christmas 1996, became another bestseller, and that helped solidify things for a while. But the overruns continued, until Richard’s board of directors met for his new nonprofit decided it would be best to shut the project down and avoid financial ruin.

Informed of this decision, Richard entered a cupboard and prayed.

“I had a very clear answer,” he recalls. “It wasn’t no, it wasn’t yes, it was ‘If you fail, no one will succeed.'”

So he took out another loan.

Another thing Richard vividly remembers is the conversation he had shortly after this prayer with a man he had never met named Bob Gay, the venture capitalist of Bain & Co., who came over. visit the still unfinished refuge.

He said, “How do you fund this? I said, ‘I am.’ He said, “All this? I said, “98%. He said, ‘Do you have that many?’ I said, ‘No, I’m taking out loans.’ He said, ‘I’ll help you.’ The next day he sent a million dollars. I love this man.

Finally, four long years after their debut, The Christmas Box House at 3660 S. West Temple was dedicated and fully operational.

Since then, the short-term orphanage has given abused and neglected children a place to care for until the state can find them somewhere to go. Additional shelters have been added to Ogden and Moab. To date, over 125,000 children have slept under a Christmas Box House roof. During the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the number of children assisted was 8,990.

Twenty-five years later, what does Richard think about his decision to build the children’s shelter?

To answer, the storyteller tells a story:

“I had a book signing. Near the back of the line there was a girl and she was looking at me, which was great because I’m in my 50s and there’s a cute teenage girl looking at me. She kept looking until she came to the front and said, ‘Mr. Evans, all my life I’ve wanted to meet you. I say, ‘Do you like my books?’ She said, ‘I’ve never read them.’ I said, ‘Why did you want to meet me?’ She says, ‘I’m a Christmas Box kid. My parents were drug addicts, and when they took us away “- at this point she put her arm around the boy next to her and introduced her brother, Eric -” they said we would never go back to home there was no room for us, and no one would want two children. My social worker told me that because of the Christmas Box House we had a place to stay until someone took us both. I have a brother because of you and I wanted to say thank you.

“That night I lay in my bed and thought, ‘I’m fine. Not that I’m a good person, but that I did something decent. I made the world a little better. Everyone wants that, right? Helping the children is all I wanted.

It’s a true Christmas story full of peace, meaning and love – made possible by the story he made up.