Send holiday cheer with gift-filled shoeboxes

By Sequim Gazette Staff • November 8, 2023 1:30 am
Photo courtesy of Operation Christmas Child Melody Wilson delivers shoeboxes to the Eastern Hills Church Drop-off in Carlsborg in 2022. This year, Wilson is leading a drop-off location at Sequim Community Church.
Photo courtesy of Operation Christmas Child Melody Wilson delivers shoeboxes to the Eastern Hills Church Drop-off in Carlsborg in 2022. This year, Wilson is leading a drop-off location at Sequim Community Church.

It’s time once again to send shoeboxes full of love and holiday cheer.

Olympic Peninsula volunteers are preparing to collect shoebox gifts during National Collection Week, Nov. 13-20.

Operation Christmas Child has been collecting and delivering shoebox gifts — boxes filled with school supplies, personal care items and toys — to children worldwide since 1993. Operation Christmas Child representatives say the organization hopes to collect enough shoeboxes to reach another 11 million children in 2023.

Anyone can pack a shoebox. Individuals, families, and groups still have time to transform empty shoeboxes into fun gifts. Find a step-by-step guide at samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box.

Shoeboxes are needed for children ages 2-14 and should include an item such as a toy, stuffed animal, musical instruments and/or other large toy. Personal items, clothing and accessories, crafts and activities, and small toys and figures for the age group.

Participants are also encouraged to send a personal note and photo.

Operation Christmas Child also has an Amazon storefront with a list of recommended items.

Local drop-off locations and times include:

Sequim Community Church (950 N. Sequim Ave.) — 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13; 6-8p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14; 10 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Nov. 15; 3-5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16; 5-7 p.m. Friday Nov. 17; 1-3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 18-19, and 9-1 a.m. Monday, Nov. 20.

Eastern Hills Community Church (91 Savannah Ln.) — 4-7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13; 1-3 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday, Nov. 14-15; 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16; 1-3 p.m. Friday Nov. 17; 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18; 3-5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19, and 10 a.m.-noon Monday, Nov. 20.

Harbor of Hope (1018 W. 16th St., Port Angeles) — 3-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, Nov. 13-17; 2-5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18; 3-5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19, and 10 a.m.-noon Monday, Nov. 20.

San Juan Baptist Church (1704 Discovery Bay Road, Port Townsend) — 1-3 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, Nov. 13-14; 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15; 1-3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16; 5-7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17; 1-3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 18-19, and 9-11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 20.

“Children around the world need to know that God loves them and there is hope,” Samaritan’s Purse president Franklin Graham said. “A simple shoebox gift opens the door to share about the true hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ.”

Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, “seeks to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world and, together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ,” according to the organization.

Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 209 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 170 countries and territories.