Operation Christmas Child’s national collection week kicks off Monday and continues through Nov. 25.Local residents will be collecting shoebox gifts at nine drop-off locations in North Central Arkansas. The Samaritan’s Purse project, partnering with churches worldwide, will deliver these gifts to children in need. The North Central Arkansas Area team volunteers hope to collect more than 13,300 gifts during the week.
Jennifer Baker, media support volunteer for OCC North Central Arkansas, says, “It’s amazing to see the local community rally together for a global impact. We see all ages getting involved – and more and more every year.”
North Central Arkansas residents are not alone in their effort to help children around the world. More than 150,000 U.S. volunteers including families, churches and other groups are coming together to contribute to the largest Christmas project of its kind. In 2019, Samaritan’s Purse hopes to collect enough Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts to reach 11 million children, with 13,300 coming from North Central Arkansas.
For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call OCC Mid South Office at 615-962-7145, or visit samaritanspurse.org/occ. Participants can donate $9 per shoebox gift online through “Follow Your Box” and receive a tracking label to discover its destination.
Those who prefer the convenience of online shopping can browse samaritanspurse.org/buildonline to select gifts matched to a child’s specific age and gender, then finish packing the virtual shoebox by adding a photo and personal note of encouragement.
For a list of drop-off locations in North Central Arkansas click here
Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world and, together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 168 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 160 countries and territories.
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