Operation Christmas Child shoebox campaign has started

By Rob Vogt

Operation Christmas Child’s annual shoebox campaign has begun, providing a chance to help children in less fortunate parts of the world.
Annette Bordeleau, the church community connect volunteer, said the shoeboxes help children.
People can pick up regular-sized shoeboxes at local pharmacies; Your Dollar Store With More; Willow Creek Quilts; Flowers on 49th; The Hive; ATB Financial; Peace Lutheran Church; Faith Community Baptist Church; Claresholm Church of the Nazarene; and the Claresholm Local Press,.
They can then pack them with items to be sent to children in Ukraine; The Philippines; the West African countries of Senegal, Cape Verde, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau; and the Central American countries of El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
The first step is to determine whether the shoebox will be for a boy or girl, aged two to four, five to nine, or 10 to 14.
By far, boys 10 to 14 receive the least shoe box gifts.
Then it’s time to start packing.
Select a quality “wow” item such as a doll, soccer ball with pump, or stuffed animal.
The shoebox then can be filled with other fun toys, hygiene items, and school supplies.
Please do not include candy; gum; toothpaste; used or damaged items; war-related items; food; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; or breakable items. People are asked not to use re-purposed medicine or food containers or boxes
Enclosing a personal note and picture is also encouraged to be included.
Bordeleau said she makes sure to enclose a note with every shoebox she prepares.
“I believe in the cause,” she said. “It’s for the joy of children.”
Over the years, she has received responses back too.
This past February she received an e-mail from Senegal.
“We are so happy to receive your letter and also love you because you are good people,” it read. “The children like the gift, may the almighty God bless you and your family.”
“You never know who’s going to respond back,” Bordeleau said.
A minimum $12 donation for each shoebox is also requested to help cover project costs from collection and shipping to training and distribution.
Please make one combined donation for multiple shoeboxes. Tax-deductible receipts will be issued for donations of $20 or more.
People can also build a box online by visiting packabox.ca.
Packed shoeboxes can be dropped off at Faith Community Baptist Church, during business hours, from Nov. 18 to 24, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday to Friday, and 9 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday and Sunday.
People can also provide their own shoeboxes or use small, shoebox-sized plastic tubs as well.
Last year a total of 200 shoeboxes were sent from Claresholm, including those that were packed and sent online.
A total of 11.3 million were collected worldwide, and 425,209 in Canada, with 88,639 of those packed by Alberta residents.
Anyone interested in more information can phone 403-625-3349 or visit samaritanspurse.ca/occ.
Bordeleau encourages everyone to consider packing a shoebox.
“It’s more of a joy to give,” she said. “(And) give these kids some joy in their life.”
In some places, those children are facing poverty, war, famine, pestilence and more.
“Sometimes (a shoebox) distracts them from the experiences they are facing,” Bordeleau said.
Operation Christmas Child is a hands-on project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and development organization.
Samaritan’s Purse began collecting shoebox gifts in 1993 in response to a request to fill shoeboxes with gifts for children in war-torn Bosnia.
A total of 28,000 shoeboxes were sent to children in Bosnia that Christmas.
Since 1993, more than 188 million children in over 170 countries and territories have received a shoebox.