Operation Christmas Child begins collecting shoeboxes to be delivered worldwide

This week, Nov. 14-21, is National Collection week for Operation Christmas Child where participants fill designated shoeboxes with school supplies, hygiene items, notes of encouragement and toys. A project of Samaritan’s Purse, the boxes are delivered to children overseas living in extreme poverty or affected by war, disease and natural disaster.

Local drop-off locations through Monday, Nov. 21 include: Hughesville Baptist Church, 8505 Old Leonardtown Road, Hughesville, 301-274-3672; La Plata First Baptist Church, 9070 Hawthorne Road, La Plata, 301-934-9040; Waldorf First Baptist Church, 10045 Bunker Hill Road, Waldorf, 301-645-6966; and Indian Head Baptist Church, 27 Raymond Ave., Indian Head, 301-743-3707.

Each church may be contacted directly for specific drop-off hours. For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child or to find more drop-off locations in Southern Maryland, go to samaritanspurse.org/occ.

Darryl Evans helps load 176 Operation Christmas Child boxes into Ken Weikel’s truck last week. Evans and his wife Ernestine donated half the boxes and collected the other half through their church, Victory Chapel in Accokeek. Weikel and his wife...

STAFF PHOTOS BY SARA NEWMAN Diana Leggett and her daughter, Adriana Leggett, of Accokeek drop-off two Operation Christmas Child boxes with Anna Weikel, a volunteer, at the Waldorf Chick-fil-a last week. National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child is happening until...

Darryl and Ernestine Evans of Bryans Road delivered 176 boxes collected through their church, Victory Chapel in Accokeek, and donated themselves to the Waldorf Chick-fil-a restaurant last week. Melissa and Ken Weikel, owners of the restaurant, served...

Flavio Ingles, a Chick-fil-a employee, hands two shoeboxes to Melissa Weikel, Southern Maryland network coordinator for Operation Christmas Child. The boxes contain items for children living overseas.