Buy extra school supplies for donation

Combine back-to-school sales and Louisiana’s annual state sales tax holiday that is Friday and Saturday, Aug. 1-2, to not only save on your children’s school needs but to also give to others.
First Baptist Church in Morgan City collects school supplies and a variety of children’s items throughout the year for its annual Operation Christmas Child project. It is a project of international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse that provides supplies to poverty-stricken children.
“Local donations are essential in getting the project done,” said the Rev. Nathan Rush. “We are most grateful for anything someone desires to give.”
Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has delivered gift-filled shoeboxes to more than 113 million children in more than 150 countries. In 2014, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough shoebox gifts to reach another 10 million children, Samaritan’s Purse said.
“We are so blessed in this country, but a lot of kids don’t have schools to go to at all, or socks to wear to them, or even pencils or notepads to write with,” said Robin Richard of Morgan City.
Richard, is one of thousands of volunteers nationwide who serves with Operation Christmas Child, which delivered nearly 9.9 million gift-filled shoeboxes last year in more than 100 countries to children struggling from war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and persecution. The shoebox gifts included toys, school supplies and basic hygiene items.
“While we’re buying clothes and school supplies for our families, we always stock up on a few extras for the shoeboxes we’ll send out to children in need later this year,” said Richard.
In November, Operation Christmas Child volunteers, like Richard, will support thousands of drop-off sites nationwide, where gift-filled shoeboxes will be collected and transported with a wide variety of resources, including bicycles, camels and canoes. Each shoebox will eventually be hand-delivered to a child in need. For many children, this represents the first gift they have ever received.
For more information about how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call First Baptist Church at 985-384-5920 or Samaritan’s Purse at 817-595-2230 or online at www.samaritanspurse.org.
National Collection Week for gift-filled shoeboxes is Nov. 17 to 24; however, shoebox gifts are collected all year at the Samaritan’s Purse headquarters in Boone, North Carolina. Participants can also build a shoebox through an online tool offering a personalized and convenient way to send a gift to a child in one of the hardest-to-reach countries.
“We collect different items all year long,” said Rush of his church’s efforts.