Operation Christmas Child's shoebox collection week will be Monday through Nov. 21, and the organization is in desperate need of volunteers to help get the boxes packed and sent out to children all over the world.
During National Collection Week, Samaritan's Purse collects the gift-filled shoeboxes at more than 4,000 drop-off sites in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, Australia, Finland, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Local drop-off locations are Cross View Baptist Church, Texarkana, Texas; New Beginnings, Sulphur Springs, Texas; Faith Christian Center, Broken Bow, Okla.; and First Baptist Church, Ashdown and Nashville, Ark.; and DeKalb, Jefferson, Hughes Springs and Bogata, Texas.
Volunteers carry the heavy workload of taking in the boxes as donors drop them off, preparing them to be shipped, packaging them and loading them into shipping containers.
"We need more people willing to volunteer their time to help us," said Carolyn Sparkman, spokeswoman. "We especially need strong individuals who can help with any heavy lifting."
Operation Christmas Child began in the U.S. in 1993 and uses gift-filled shoeboxes to teach the Gospel and bring happiness to children around the world.
Individuals, families, churches and groups fill empty shoeboxes with a "wow" item-like a doll or soccer ball-and other fun toys, school supplies, hygiene items and notes of encouragement.
More than 500,000 volunteers worldwide, with more than 100,000 of those
in the United States, are involved in collecting, shipping and distributing
shoebox gifts.
They have delivered more than 124 million gift-filled boxes to more than 150 countries and territories, according to their website.
In 2016, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough gifts to reach another 11 million children. Area shoeboxes collected last year numbered more than 63,700. This year's goal is 70,000.
Donors can go to Samartianspurse.org to find drop-off hours for each collection site. The site also gives instructions on how to pack a box and what can be included.
"Each shoebox reaches at least 10 people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We reached countless numbers of people last year through this ministry and are praying for an increase in giving," Sparkman said.
For information, call 903-838-9797 or 903-908-5585.