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North County Residents Shop for Deals to Give Needy Children Basic School Supplies, Necessities
Shoe Box Drop-Offs Slated for Nov. 12-18
According to UNICEF, there are tens of millions of children in developing countries who have never attended school. While a number of factors contribute to a lack of education among children in developing nations, one key component is access to basic school supplies, according to international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham
The organization encouraged families to take advantage of back-to-school sales to stock up on items for Operation Christmas Child is a year-round project of the group.
Participants fill shoe boxes with school materials, toys, necessity items, and letters of encouragement for children in poverty around the world.
“Back-to-school discounts offer the perfect opportunity to purchase extra notebooks, pens, colored pencils and erasers for our family to pack in our shoe box gifts,” said Operation Christmas Child volunteer, Jim McCaughan.
This shoe box packing effort, requiring months of organization and preparation, is expected to affect over 9 million children this year suffering the effects of natural disaster, disease, war, terrorism, famine and poverty. In 2012 Operation Christmas Child anticipates reaching a milestone—collecting and delivering shoe boxes to more than 100 million children since the project began in 1993. For many of these children, the shoe box will be the first gift they have ever received.
There are several ways individuals can help with this project. They can prepare by shopping year round for items, such as school supplies, for the boxes.
During National Collection Week (Nov. 12-19), fill shoe boxes with items and a letter of encouragement and drop it off at a collection site. Step-by-step shoe box packing instructions are available at www.samaritanspurse.org/OCC. By using special tracking technology, participants can “follow” their shoe box and discover the country in which their gift will be hand-delivered to a child in need. To register your shoe box gift, use the “Follow Your Box” form online.
Volunteers for the project are needed year-round. For volunteer opportunities visit www.samaritanspurse.org/OCC and click on “Volunteer” for more details and information.
For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call Linda Logsdon, area coordinator, at 636-300-3190 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org/OCC.
