Christmas project lasts all year

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest Christmas project, is calling on local kids, families, churches, businesses, schools and community groups to fill shoe boxes full of gifts for children overseas who are suffering from disease, famine, war, terrorism and natural disaster.

“My shoe box gift might be the only gift a child has ever received,” said Jane Peters of Sycamore, Operation Christmas Child drop-off site coordinator, in a news release. “A shoe box can make a difference. It lets children know that someone really does care about them.”

Operation Christmas Child, a project of international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, has collected and hand-delivered more than 68 million shoe box gifts to hurting kids in some 130 countries since 1993.

Although National Collection Week is Nov. 16-23, Operation Christmas Child is not limited to just one week a year or during the holiday season. It requires months of organization and preparation to reach millions of kids around the world. Volunteers and shoe box gifts are needed during all seasons to help spread Christmas cheer and the spirit of giving that lasts all year long.

How to help:

• Prepare – Enlist families, churches, community groups and businesses to take part in making shoe box gifts for needy children.

• Pack – Fill shoe boxes with toys, necessity items, school supplies, candy and a letter of encouragement.

• Process – Sign up to join thousands of Operation Christmas Child volunteers this fall, at one of many collection sites across Illinois to collect and prepare millions of shoe box gifts for delivery to underprivileged children on six continents.

For more information on how to participate, call 815-895-3116 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org.