Operation Christmas Child collection sites announced
A number of Polk County churches, individuals and groups annually participate in Operation Christmas Child.
Gina Brown, area coordinator, discussed opportunities during a recent meeting attended by representatives from the following churches: Antioch, Pine Bower, Live Oak, Flint Hill, Glad Tidings Church of God in Christ, Lake Creek, Morning View and others.
She also mentioned that Nov. 17-24 is National Collection Week. Bellview Baptist Church Activity Building, 2333 North Bellview Road is Polk’s collection center.
Collection days and hours are:
Monday, Nov. 17: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 18: 5 to 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 19: 9 a.m. to noon
Thursday, Nov. 20: 5 to 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 21: 9 a.m. to noon
Saturday, Nov. 22: 10 a.m. to noon
Operation Christmas Child is a worldwide organizational effort of Samaritans Purse.
Since 1993, the project has collected and delivered more than 100 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 100 countries. Operation Christmas Child expects to collect another 9.8 million shoebox gifts in 2014.
Individuals, families and groups fill empty shoeboxes with gifts of toys, school supplies, hygiene items and notes of encouragement. During National Collection Week, Samaritan’s Purse will collect the gift-filled shoeboxes at more than 3,500 dropoff sites in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
After the boxes are prepared for overseas shipment at eight major processing centers across the United States - Atlanta; Boone, North Carolina; Charlotte; Dallas; Denver; Honolulu; Minneapolis; and Orange County, California. Samaritan’s Purse and its partners will deliver the gifts to children in more than 100 countries on six continents.
Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts are collected in the United States, Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
More than 500,000 volunteers worldwide, with over 100,000 of those in the United States, are involved in collecting, shipping and distributing shoebox gifts.
For more information, contact Gina Brown at ginatoo@yahoo.com or call her at 770-684-8054.