It's Never too Early to Start Spreading Christmas Cheer—Join the Effort
to Help Millions of Needy Children Worldwide
"This is a great opportunity, not only to bring hope and joy to a
hurting child's life, but to also teach children in this country about
generosity and compassion." —Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's
Purse.
BOONE, N.C., March 25, 2008—Operation Christmas Child—the world's
largest Christmas project—has collected more than 61 million shoe
box gifts in just 15 years of operation. A project of international relief
organization Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child brings gifts
of hope to millions of needy children through simple shoe box gifts.
In 2007, some 8 million suffering children in more than 100 countries received
personal shoe box gifts filled with simple things most people take for
granted—soap, toothbrushes, school supplies, candy, and other necessity
items. For many of these children, the shoe box gift will be the first
gift they have ever received. Thanks to caring individuals, families, schools,
churches, civic clubs and other organizations in thousands of cities in
all 50 states and 10 additional countries these suffering children will
receive a little bit a hope in the form of a simple shoebox gift.
Although National Collection Week is Nov. 17-24, Operation Christmas Child
is not limited to just one week a year or during the holiday season. It
is a year-round project, requiring 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 in such a
big way.
"This is a great opportunity, not only to bring hope and joy to a
hurting child's life, but to also teach children in this country about
generosity and compassion," said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's
Purse.
The gifts will be collected in 11 countries, including: the United States,
Canada, Australia, Austria, Germany, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Once the gifts are transported
to countries around the world, Samaritan's Purse teams and partners will
use whatever means necessary—truck, bus, train, helicopter, boat, foot,
dog sled, mule and even camel—to hand-deliver the shoe box gifts to more
than six continents worldwide.
For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child,
call (828) 262-1980 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org.
Operation Christmas Child News
HOW TO GET INVOLVED:
PREPARE—Help enlist families, churches, scout troops, community groups
and businesses to take part in creating shoe box gifts for needy children
in more than 100 countries
PACK—Fill shoe boxes with school supplies, toys, necessity items,
candy and a letter of encouragement. Step-by-step shoe box packing instructions
are available here.
PROCESS—Sign up to join thousands of Operation Christmas Child volunteers
this fall at one of hundreds of collection sites and Processing Centers
in the United States to prepare millions of shoe box gifts for delivery
to underprivileged kids on six continents
