Operation Christmas Child (OCC) brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes.
It is a fun and easy project that can involve people of all ages. Many of the children who receive a shoe box are being given the first gift they have ever received.
OCC shoe boxes open doors for Samaritan’s Purse to provide children families, and communities with access to safe water, food, clothing, shelter, medical assistance, and/or educational resources.
Shoe boxes from OCC can transcend barriers – language, culture, geography and politics – to give joy and hope to hurting children around the world.
Each gift-filled shoe box should contain a well-balanced variety of school supplies, toys, hygiene products and a personal note and photo from the giver.
OCC shoe boxes travel around the world using every imaginable form of transportation: trucks, boats, planes and even camels.
In 2011, Canadians packed and shipped 672,274 shoe boxes. That’s five per cent more than the previous year. Nearly 8.6 million gift-filled shoe boxes were collected worldwide last year.
This year’s National Collection Week is Nov. 19 to 25. Shoe boxes from Canada collected in 2012 will be distributed to the following countries: Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uruguay, Venezuela
Many local churches and businesses participate in this program and donors can pick up boxes through them. They can also use real shoe boxes or small plastic storage containers and return them to local drop-off centres.
Any family, organization or business which would like to get involved can go to www.samaritanspurse.ca and link to OCC and find the nearest drop-off centre for more information.
The logistic co-ordination team for the Town of Minto and surrounding area can also help with questions. Call 519-343-4816 in the evening.
