More than 11 million Children in Need to Receive Gift-filled Shoeboxes
BOONE, N.C., Feb. 16, 2016 — Because of the generosity of donors across the United States, the Operation Christmas Child project of Samaritan’s Purse collected more than 8.7 million shoebox gifts—filled with fun toys, school supplies and hygiene items—for children in need around the world. Combined with shoebox gifts collected from partnering countries in 2015, the ministry is now sending more than 11.2 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 100 countries.
“Most of the boys and girls who receive shoebox gifts have never received any kind of present before,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “That child will never forget the gift or the message it conveyed about the love of Jesus Christ.”
Many children who receive shoebox gifts will also enroll in Operation Christmas Child’s 12-lesson discipleship program, The Greatest Journey. This program teaches children about God’s amazing love and guides them through what it means to faithfully follow Jesus Christ. Since 2009, more than 7.4 million children have participated in the program.
Although local drop-off locations for gifts are closed until November 2016, shoeboxes can still be packed and sent year-round to Samaritan’s Purse headquarters in Boone, North Carolina (801 Bamboo Road, Boone, NC 28607). Anyone can conveniently pack a personalized Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift at samaritanspurse.org/occ.
Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected more than 135 million gift-filled shoeboxes for children in more than 150 countries and territories. In 2016, Operation Christmas Child hopes to reach another 12 million children. To learn about year-round volunteer opportunities or to serve with Operation Christmas Child, visit samaritanspurse.org/occ.
Return to OCC Media Resources
