As part of the world's largest Christmas project of its kind, thousands of Canadians have been filling empty shoeboxes with toys, school supplies and hygiene products for millions of disadvantaged children around the world.
Next week is Operation Christmas Child's National Collection Week (November 17-23), when collection sites across Canada will receive the gift-filled boxes, and then deliver them to impoverished children in Ukraine, Central and South America. Operation Christmas Child is on target to send 700,000 boxes from Canada.
"We are inviting Canadians from coast to coast to join us again this year in packing and donating gift-filled shoeboxes," said Frank King, Communications Manager for Samaritan's Purse Canada. "Together, we have the opportunity to help millions of needy children know they have not been forgotten, by giving a simple gift that will be cherished for years to come."
Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical Christian humanitarian organization, who have collected more than 100 million shoeboxes since 1993 and sent to needy kids in over 100 countries.
This year, participants can also build and send a shoebox online by simply selecting gifts from the online catalogue and writing a personal note to send with the shoebox. The volunteers at Operation Christmas Child will build and deliver the shoebox on behalf of the donor. Online givers are also able to track which country their shoebox is sent to benefit a child in need.
Anyone can participate and fill a shoebox - all the details can be found at http://jellymarketing.com/operation-christmas-child/.
