Dateline: Story: Operation Christmas Child has been up and running in Carlyle and area for the past few weeks. You may have seen shoeboxes available throughout town or know of someone who is filling one, but regardless, the red and green boxes are being taken home to be filled by individuals and families alike.
For those unaware of what Operation Christmas Child is, the project provides gift-filled shoeboxes to those children in desperate situations throughout the world. Started in 1990 by Dave Cooke, the project was adopted by Samaritan's Purse in 1993. To date, the initiative has collected and distributed more than 86 million shoeboxes worldwide.
In 2010, 640,714 shoeboxes were collected in Canada throughout the holiday season. This year, even more are expected as National Collection Week spans Nov. 21 to 27.
During this holiday season, shoeboxes from Canada will be distributed primarily to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.
To participate is as easy as one-two-three. All you have to do is pick up an Operation Christmas Child shoebox or find any regular-sized shoebox to use. Then decide whether your gift is going to be for a girl or a boy and for what age category. You can pick two to four years, five to nine years, or 10 to 14 years. It's your choice!
And then the only thing left to do is to fill it. Now that's the fun part. It can be school supplies such as pencils, pens, and picture books. Or you can put in toys such as stuffed animals, musical instruments or hair clips. It can be hygiene items such as soap or even things such as personal notes and photos.
The only items they request you leave out are toothpaste, used items, food stuffs and soft candy due to customs regulations. Also, they request that those individuals packing the shoeboxes refrain from adding liquids or items that could leak, melt, freeze or break. Samaritan's Purse requests that items that can scare or harm a child be left out, in addition to playing cards.
If you haven't packed a shoebox as of yet, and are still hoping to, it's not too late. Most collection centres in Carlyle and area are accepting donations until the end of the week. And for those who would like to donate online, you are encouraged to visit the Samaritan's Purse website at www.samaritanspurse.ca.
