Video: Local Churches Prepare Shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child

[syndicaster id=’6113588′]

ATLANTA, Ga. (WCBI) — Some North Mississippi churches are giving back this holiday season, participating in the world’s largest children’s Christmas project.

Residents from both Lowndes and Noxubee Counties recently spent some time in Atlanta, helping prepare shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

The program sends gifts to kids in need across the globe.

WCBI tagged along for the trip.

The North Mississippi church members were just a few of the volunteers who prepared 106,000 shoeboxes in a day.

That’s just from Atlanta. There are seven more processing centers in the U.S.

Those boxes from Atlanta will reach 106,000 kids overseas.

It takes a lot of work and people to make it happen.

“They’ll fly here, travel here, spend their vacations here, just to process these shoebox gifts,” said Todd Edwards, Atlanta Processing Center Manager for Operation Christmas Child.

It’s a cause they’re passionate about.

For Macon resident Tammy King, it’s a calling. She’s been bringing her church for several years.

“It helps so many people, helps so many children all the way around the world, and I just felt like God’s called me to this,” said King, who attends Calvary Baptist Church.

“God says He doesn’t want our abilities. He just wants us to be available,” said Ron Gibson, a volunteer from First Baptist Church in Columbus.

Volunteers work between four and eight hour shifts, and can work until as late as 10 p.m. The goal is to go through more than 100,000 boxes in one day.

“The 24th of November was our first day of processing, and we’ll continue to process until the last box comes through,” Edwards said.

Volunteers inspect the boxes, which are filled with gifts like toys, school supplies, and hygiene items.

Then they pack them up to be shipped off from Atlanta, to countries like Chad and the Philippines.

“The first time that these children open up these boxes, it’s just amazing to see that child’s expression,” Gibson said.

Nicaragua missionary Daniel Titus knows this first hand.

“If it wasn’t for the missionaries getting these boxes, then it would not be easy to open the doors to some of these countries that we serve in, and that’s how important this program is,” Titus said.

So far this year, volunteers have prepared more than 850,000 boxes in Atlanta alone.

Operation Christmas Child hopes to send more than 11 million shoeboxes to kids this year.

It’s not too late to build a shoebox. You can make one online for $25 here: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/buildonline/.

Coming up Thursday on WCBI, we’ll tell you how Operation Christmas Child is directly impacting the kids.

 

Categories: Local News

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *