Changing lives

P.E.I. residents pack thousands of gift-filled shoeboxes for impoverished kids

SUMMERSIDE – Kids in Central America and West Africa will soon receive shoeboxes filled with toys, hygiene items, and school supplies.

Thanks to the generosity of P.E.I. residents who packed more than 3,500 boxes for the ‘Operation Christmas Child’ campaign.

“Each shoebox that someone fills is an opportunity to show hurting children that they are loved by God and by us, and the gifts Canadians have provided will once again bless children, many of whom have never before received a present,” said Randy Crosson, director of Operation Christmas Child Canada.

Since 1993, the campaign, adopted by the Samaritan’s Purse, has collected and hand-delivered more than

177 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in over

130 countries hurt by war, poverty, natural disaster, disease, and famine.

Samaritan’s Purse Canada is a Christian relief and development organization that takes its name from Jesus Christ’s biblical story of the Good Samaritan. Like that Good Samaritan, who found a beaten man and helped restore him, the program assists victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine, and persecution.

Other initiatives include providing safe water, vocational skills, and agricultural supplies and training to families in the developing world.

While this is a Christmas campaign, Islanders can pack and donate shoeboxes online year-round by visiting www. PackaBox.ca.

Learn more at SamaritansPurse.ca.