As the summer season comes to an end, local families are preparing for the school year with back-to-school sales, but many Durant residents are not just shopping for their own children. Lisa Carter is collecting school supplies, along with personal care items and fun toys, for children in need around the world.
These items will be packed into Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts, which will be sent to children in over 100 countries—reminding boys and girls that God loves them and they are not alone. For many children around the world, school supplies like notebooks, pencils and markers are a luxury many cannot access.
“As many people are shopping for school supplies this year, I’d like to encourage them to include school supplies when they pack a shoebox for children in need,” said Durant volunteer Carter, who has volunteered with the project for four years. “It’s fun to be able to give to others while we prepare for the new school year. We take many of these items for granted and it’s a great way to be involved in the project.”
For more information, call (828) 588-1745 or visit samaritanspurse. org/occ. National Collection Week is Nov. 16 – 23. Participants can donate $10 per shoebox gift online through “Follow Your Box” and receive a tracking label to discover its destination.
Those who prefer the convenience of online shopping can browse samaritanspurse. org/buildonline to select gifts matched to a child’s specific age and gender, then finish packing the virtual shoebox by adding a photo and personal note of encouragement.
Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, seeks to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world and, together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 244 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 175 countries and territories.