Operation Christmas Child from Samaritan’s Purse this year celebrated a milestone: 200 million shoeboxes sent to children across the globe who are in need. What started in 1993 as a direct request to Franklin Graham from a man in England to send holiday gifts to Bosnia during the early days of the Bosnian Civil War has 29 years on endured and grown.
Mount Airy resident Sarah Simpson helped coordinate local donation efforts at Bannertown Baptist Church and recently went to a donation processing center outside Charlotte to help pack boxes of toys and other holiday goodies that will be sent around the world in an outreach effort that keeps growing. The campaign had humble beginnings that first year when they collected and sent 28,000 shoeboxes. The shoebox campaign has since expanded to now reach more than 170 counties across the world. Simpson reported that at the processing center the volunteers were putting together about 100,000 shoeboxes a day.
Meant as a way for local groups such as Bannertown Baptist Church to come together and help others, the program offers the chance to provide toys and other holiday gifts to less fortunate kids. They offer the opportunity to track a shoebox’s travel from the United States to its final destination on their website. Simpson said on her visit to the operation center that she packed boxes that were headed to the Czech Republic, Peru, and Zimbabwe.
Franklin Graham, son of the late Rev. Billy Graham, spoke to the crowd for 15 minutes or so and thanked the pickers and packers for their help in making another shoebox campaign a success with a heaping helping of Chic-fil-A sandwiches. For those who were there only to spread cheer and aid in the box preparation, it was a treat to be visited by the leader of Samaritan’s Purse and hear him tell stories of past years’ efforts.
One story in particular spoke to Simpson and to the reason why so many people get involved with Operation Christmas Child every year. Graham told the crowd of a young man who upon receiving his shoebox opened it and seemed less that enthused with what was inside. When he was asked what he wanted for Christmas, Graham said his response was, “Parents.”
The young man wrote a letter back to the family who sent the shoebox, and they sent one in return. This correspondence continued for some time until that family wound up adopting him, Simpson said. What was in the shoebox now matters little, but it was the act of generosity and charity that set everything else in motion.
Simpson and Bannertown Baptist will be collecting again in 2023 for Operation Christmas Child and have hopes of collecting even more donations next year.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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