Sunshine Coast residents are invited to participate in Operation Christmas Child by filling empty shoeboxes with school supplies, hygiene items and toys, that bring joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world. Last year we sent 812 filled boxes that made a difference to many children. Our community’s shoeboxes contributed to 664,525 shoeboxes collected in Canada.
Guinea is one of the countries the boxes from western Canada go to. A little girl living in a remote village in Guinea would carry around a wooden stick, pretending it was a baby doll. When Operation Christmas Child came to her village, inside her gift-filled shoebox was a brand new baby doll. Your gifts can have an impact.
You can pick up empty red and green boxes at local Gibsons Building Supplies (both locations) IGA (both locations), local Dollar Stores, local churches and the local collection centre at Calvary Baptist Church, 711 Park Rd. in Gibsons. Or you can call local co-ordinator Martha Schroth at 604-886-8545 if you need boxes or have questions. Please return the filled boxes as quickly as possible to the same locations. The national deadline is Nov. 13, but the local deadline is Nov. 6 to enable me to pack them into cartons by national deadline. To learn more, visit www.SamaritansPurse.ca/OCC
Thank you again to everyone who participates in this project and for those who do so year after year. These simple gifts, packed with love, send a message of hope and continue to transform the lives of children worldwide.
– Submitted by Martha Schroth
