Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect thousands of shoeboxes

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) —  Operation Christmas child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse and starting today, the organization is collecting shoeboxes packed with items we some times take for granted.

Operation Christmas Child Spokeswoman and volunteer Paulette Fittshur was able to see the power of a simple gift firsthand.

“Going to pass out shoeboxes with Samaritan’s Purse is life changing,” said Fittshur. “You have an idea of what it’s going to be like, but it’s so much better.”

Fittshur has been a part of the organization for 16 years and has even traveled to Honduras to help distribute shoeboxes.

“These children are living desperate situations impacted by war, famine, disease, natural disasters, and extreme poverty,” said Fittshur.

Volunteer Joyce Parker said, “It’s hard for our children or even for us to imagine a world without electricity, or clean drinking water, you know no computers, and I think this just a wonderful program to show these children in a third world country and on the other side of the world that someone cares for them, someone cares for them.”

“It is such a beautiful way to give Christmas away,” said Fittshur. “To teach your kids how to give and also teach them how to be grateful for some of things very every day things that we take for granted.”

To be a part of Operation Christmas Child, just take an empty shoe box and decide whether it’s going to be for a girl or a boy, and then fill it with items like hygiene products, toys, or even school supplies then take it to one of the drop off locations such as Wrightsboro United Methodist Church here in Wilmington.

“I always put a letter in my boxes and in pasted years I’ve received an answered from a child in South America and the most exciting one for me is when I received a letter from a father of a two-year-old who got one of my boxes in Romania,” said Parker.

“Many of these things they have never even seen and you actually have to show them out to use it,” said Fittshure. “These kids, they are actually play with rocks, sticks, and leaves, so to get a new toy. It just so heart warming to see that joy on their face.”

The shoeboxes collected from the Wilmington area will go to places including Bahamas, Belize, India, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe.

A donation of $7 per shoebox is asked, but not a must, when dropping off your donations to help with shipping and custom costs.

This year, Wilmington project coordinators hope to collect 36,800 shoebox gifts to deliver to children in need overseas.

National Collection Week lasts through next Monday, November 23.

Full list of drop-off locations, items you can donate, and how to track your shoebox.