Thanks to those who helped Operation Christmas Child
"Think Inside the Box" is what hundreds of Southeast Alaskans did this year to help support Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan's Purse. More than 2,300 shoeboxes were filled with gifts, but most of all they were filled with love, joy and hope for children living in poverty and desperate situations overseas.
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In 1993 Operation Christmas Child was launched in Britain and 28,000 shoeboxes were collected that first year for distribution in Eastern Europe. Since then more than 70 million gift-filled shoeboxes have been distributed in 130 countries. Last year nearly 8 million boxes from 11 different countries were shipped overseas.
The Operation Christmas Child Volunteer Committee wants to say thank you to all the Southeast communities that took part in this year's operation: Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Petersburg, Haines, Skagway, Wrangell and those on Prince of Wales Island. Thank you to all the churches, organizations, groups, individuals and clubs for your dedication to Operation Christmas Child.
Thank you also to Alaska Marine Lines for donating all the shipping within Southeast to get boxes to Juneau, McDonalds for donating Happy Meal toys to help fill the shoe boxes, the Juneau Shirt Co. for their donation of candy, and The Waffle Co. and Udder Culture for providing places where people could pick up brochures.
Chapel by the Lake donated space for the Southeast Alaska Collection Center. Last week enthusiastic volunteers from various churches and groups packed the shoeboxes into cartons for shipping south. As the saying goes, "Many hands make the work load light."
Thanks to compassionate people like you who will bring the spirit of Christmas to many hurting children and their families. May your own holidays be filled with love, joy, and hope.
Darla Orbistondo
Operation Christmas ChildVolunteer Committee
Juneau