Authentic Giving

Shoebox Project - BoxesKids Join Effort to Help Millions of Needy Children Worldwide by Filling the Empty Boxes from Their New, Back-to-School Shoes

SOMERSET COUNTY - School will be back in session soon, but many Somerset County kids already have homework—as they learn a lesson in giving. 

Through Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest Christmas project, kids kick-off the school year learning about the impact of giving to children in need. By adding a few extra items to their back-to-¬school shopping lists and saving the boxes from their newly purchased shoes, kids are joining the effort to help some 8 million hurting children in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Operation Christmas Child, a project of international relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, encourages volunteers to fill simple shoe box gifts with toys, necessity items, school supplies, candy and often hand-written notes of encouragement. The gifts are then hand-delivered to children worldwide who are suffering because of natural disaster, disease, war, terrorism, famine and poverty.

“For a lot of kids living in poor countries, not having a pencil could be all that keeps them from getting an education,” said Leigh Fisher, Mid-Atlantic regional director for Operation Christmas Child. “With back to school sales, pencils are cheap and so are a lot of other great things you could pack in a shoe box. We all want to make a difference in the world, packing a shoe box is way we can all help make the future brighter and give a lot of kids hope for something better.”

For many of these children, the shoe box gift will be the first gift they have ever received, letting them know they are loved and not forgotten.

Why now—months before the holiday season?
Operation Christmas Child is not limited to just a few weeks a year. It is a year-round project, requiring months of organization and preparation to reach millions of kids around the world. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has distributed shoe box gifts to more than 69 million hurting children in some 130 countries.

HOW CAN I HELP NEEDY KIDS WORLDWIDE? It’s Simple!

PREPARE—Help enlist families, churches, scout troops, community groups and businesses to take part in creating shoe box gifts for needy children in more than 100 countries.

PACK—Fill shoe boxes with school supplies, toys, necessity items, hard candy and a letter of encouragement.
Step-by-step shoe box packing instructions are available at www.samaritanspurse.org.

PROCESS—Join thousands of Operation Christmas Child volunteers this fall at one of hundreds of collection sites and Processing Centers in the United States to prepare millions of shoe box gifts for delivery to underprivileged kids on six continents.

For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call (410) 442-3701 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org. National Collection Week is Nov. 16-23, 2009; however, shoe box gifts are collected all