Shrewsbury – With thousands of shoe box gifts already collected in Massachusetts, area residents are encouraged to continue packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child through “Build a Box,” an online giving tool.?This year, the Samaritan's Purse project expects to reach a milestone??”collecting and delivering shoeboxes to more than 100 million children since 1993.
Hundreds of volunteers have worked to spread Christmas cheer at Shrewsbury-area collection sites, where 6,750 shoeboxes packed with school supplies, toys and necessity items were dropped off by residents. Although National Collection Week has ended, it's not too late for participants of Operation Christmas Child to fill shoeboxes online with items for kids overseas.
Many local families are choosing to pack shoebox gifts virtually through “Build a Box.” By visiting the project's website at www.samaritanspurse.org/occ, here is how to get involved: select a child's age and gender; shop through an online selection of gifts; virtually “pack” them in an empty shoe box; and finish it off by writing a note of encouragement.
Then, through tracking technology, donors can “follow” the box to the destination country where it will be hand-delivered.
Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child, a project of international Christian relief aid organization Samaritan's Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, has collected more than 94 million shoe box gifts and hand-delivered them to suffering children in more than 130 countries.?This year, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect another 9 million gift-filled shoeboxes and surpass the 100 million milestone.?Through the power of a simple gift and its message of hope, these young survivors of natural disaster, war, famine, and poverty learn they are cared for and not forgotten. For many of these children, the shoebox will be the first gift they have ever received.
For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child in the Northeast, call 518-437-0690 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.
