By Sue Wambolt, Contributing Writer
Shrewsbury – Christmas 2011, a truck loaded with more than 6,240 shoe boxes full of gifts was delivered to children in over 130 countries, as part of the efforts of the international Christian relief group, Operation Christmas Child. The boxes, packed with socks, scarves, gloves, sweaters, T-shirts, toiletries (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, washcloths), school supplies and toys were delivered to 8.5 million children worldwide. This year, said Shrewsbury Collection Center Coordinator Rae Pileggi, the goal is to send 10,000 boxes.
Volunteers at Operation Christmas Child are gearing up for their fall collection in November by collecting empty boxes now. As boxes are collected, volunteers will begin to fill them with the gift items that have been donated to the center.
“With all the recent back-to-school shopping,” Pileggi said, “we thought people might be happy to recycle?their empty shoe boxes by putting them to good use.”
Operation Christmas Child of Central Mass. will be having an empty?shoe box collection at their collection center in Shrewsbury at Grace Baptist Church,10 Stanley Road, from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 15.
The official collection week for the filled shoe boxes is Nov. 12 through 19.
For more information on Operation Christmas Child, ?go to www.samaritanspurse.org/OCC.
