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Operation Christmas child

A project of Samaritan's Purse to help bring joy to children in desperate situations.

Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations world wide through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love.  You can get involved by packing a shoe box gift.

This basic container has, since 1993, become a welcome surprise at Christmas and also a symbol and demonstration of caring and basic humanity.

These boxes will go to children who normally wouldn’t receive a gift at Christmas.  This year boxes filled from Canada will go to children in Argentina, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uruguay, and Venezuela (listed destination countries are subject to change).

Selecting items and filling a box is an activity that parents can do with their children.

Plastic, reusable containers are recommended for packing your shoe-box gift.  The boxes should be filled with a variety of items.

Please remember to give $7 or more per box to cover project costs, including shipping.

It is requested that you do not seal your boxes so that the workers in Calgary can check the contents to make sure everything in it meets customs requirements.  They also need to get in the box to retrieve the money you have provided to help offset shipping costs.

Further information about Operation Christmas Child, a list of suggested items for inclusion in the shoeboxes, how to pack, label and seal the boxes is available at  http://www.smaritanspurse.ca.

This year we do not have a drop off centre in Fort St. James with the loss of the Greyhound Bus Service.

If you pack a shoebox you will need to get it to Greyhound Bus Lines in Vanderhoof or Prince George before Nov. 24, 2013.

A great option is to pack a virtual shoebox online-go to www.packabox.ca.

The cost is $37.00.