CARIBOU, Maine — With holiday supplies already covering the store shelves, Caribou individuals, families, churches and groups are being asked to help make Christmas a reality for needy kids around the world by filling shoeboxes with toys, school supplies, hygiene items and notes of encouragement.
Operation Christmas Child, a project of the international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, is the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind. It is looking to collect 800 gift-filled shoeboxes during National Collection Week, Monday, Nov. 18, through Monday, Nov. 25.
Anyone can drop off the gift-filled shoeboxes at the Caribou United Baptist Church located at 74 High Street. Operating hours are Monday, Nov 18 – Saturday, Nov. 23, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 24, 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.; and Monday, Nov. 25, 9 a.m. – 11 a.m.
The boxes will be delivered to children worldwide using whatever means necessary — trucks, trains, boats, bikes, even elephants. For many children, the shoebox gift will be the first gift they have ever received.
Though the shoebox gifts will often travel thousands of miles, Operation Christmas Child offers a way for participants to follow their box by using the donation form found at samaritanspurse.org. Donors will receive an email telling the country where their shoeboxes are delivered.
Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 100 million shoebox gifts to suffering children in more than 100 countries since 1993. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect another 9.8 million gift-filled shoeboxes in 2013.
For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call 517-437-0690, or visit samaritanspurse.org.
