Operation Christmas Child is underway

First Baptist Church in Morgan City on Monday officially began its annual collection of shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

This is National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse.

It’s the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind, said on the Samaritan’s Purse website.

Operation Christmas Child uses gift-filled shoeboxes to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world.

“We love this ministry,” said First Baptist Church Collection Center Coordinator Robin Richard.

“Anybody at any age can pack a shoebox filled up with hygiene items, school supplies, coloring books, dish towels. Anybody. And it touches so many lives.”

Last year, the Morgan City collection center at First Baptist Church received a total of 6,579 shoeboxes. In 2014, the center collected 5,000, which was the largest collected in the state.

Internationally, Operation Christmas Child delivered over 11 million shoeboxes to children in over 100 countries.

These gift-filled shoeboxes are not only distributed to kids and youth overseas.

Children located in areas of the United States devastated by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods and tornadoes are also able to receive a shoebox gift.

Richard has served as the coordinator close to 15 years.

“It’s grown each year,” Richard said. “We’ve gotten more churches and people to participate each year. And it’s been awesome.”

People come from Houma and Pierre Part drop off shoeboxes at the collection center. A church in Pierre Part delivered it largest collection of approximately 500 shoeboxes last year.

“It’s the largest amount they’ve brought so far,” Richard said. “It’s just awesome to see it grow.

“And more people find out about it because there are still people who don’t know about Operation Christmas Child.”

When Richard buys items for shoeboxes people say “Wow, why are you buying all this stuff for?” and she tells them about Operation Christmas Child.

“And they haven’t even heard about it, yet,” Richard said. “It’s so simple. It’s just a box that can bless a kid’s life.

“Most of these kids, especially the kids overseas or even those hit by disasters lose all their possessions and to get a gift like that, it just touches their lives.”

It also encourages children to enter a program called The Greatest Journey, which is a 12-week program teaching them about Jesus, said First Baptist Church Relations Coordinator Joycelyn Slaton.

She has been involved with the Operation Christmas Child program approximately 17 years.

“I do believe that this does help spread the word not only to the children but they go back to their villages and tell their friends and family, which is much wider than that one child,” Slaton said.

“We always say the box is the lagniappe,” Richard said. “The real gift is getting to know the true gift, Jesus Christ.”

The church hosted its shoebox packing party Thursday. Over 50 people attended, including ROTC groups, Girl Scout troops, the Coast Guard and kids from surrounding schools.

Altogether, 1,000 shoeboxes were loaded on the trailer after the packing party, which is less than last year’s count of 1,206.

Shoebox gifts can be dropped off at First Baptist Church. Samaritan’s Purse asks for a $7 donation to help offset the costs of postage and shipping to processing centers.

The donation also allows donors to track the delivery of their shoebox gift.

Recommended items to donate are hygiene items, school supplies, and toys. No liquids or candy is permitted in the box.

Age groups for boxes are 2- to 4-year-olds, 5- to 9-year-olds, and 12- to 14-year-olds. Boxes need to be labeled according age group and gender.

The collection center will be open Tuesday through Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The hours for Sunday are 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

For more information about Operation Christmas Child, go to www.samaritanspurse.org