Operation Christmas Child is once again asking residents of Osoyoos and area to fill shoeboxes with donations of clothing, household items and school supplies to be shipped to poor children and families in Latin America in the coming weeks. Tamara Aspell (right) is the regional logistics co-ordinator. (Photo supplied)
A program that helps ensure a very merry Christmas for hundreds of the world’s poorest children is ready to roll once again.
Operation Christmas Child is once again asking Osoyoos and area residents to fill shoeboxes with donations of clothing, household items and school supplies, which will then be shipped to poor children and families in Central and South America in the coming weeks, said Tamara Aspell, the regional logistics co-ordinator for Operation Christmas Child 2014.
The Osoyoos Baptist Church and numerous Osoyoos and area organizations and businesses, including Sears, CIBC, Osoyoos Pharmasave, Osoyoos Christian Centre, the Osoyoos Active Living Centre, St. Anne’s Catholic Church and the Dollar Store in Osoyoos, are once again supporting the program said Aspell.
Shoeboxes can be picked up at all of the businesses and organizations involved in supporting Operation Christmas Child.
Participants are asked to fill shoeboxes during the week of November 17-21. After all of the boxes have been collected, they will be shipped to Calgary and distributed to countries in Central and South America, said Aspell.
“Different countries donate to different regions and Canada usually helps children and families in Central and South America due to geographical reasons,” she said.
Popular items normally sent by participants include school supplies like pens, paper and pencils, T-shirts and other clothing items such as slippers, sandals and shoes, greeting cards, safe small toys and other small items.
People are encouraged not to donate toothpaste, shampoo or playing cards because they can be used for gambling, which is a problem in many communities in the Third World, said Aspell.
Operation Christmas Child was organized by the Samaritan’s Purse Canada, a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization that has been providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world since 1970.
The organization partners with our supporters in Canada and with local organizations (usually churches) abroad to provide compassionate and cost-effective assistance to anyone who needs it, regardless of religion, race, gender or socio-economic standing.
Emergency relief programs provide desperately needed assistance to victims of natural disaster, war, disease, and famine.
As we offer food, water, and temporary shelter, we meet critical needs and give people a chance to rebuild their lives.
Through community development and vocational programs, we help people break the cycle of poverty and exploitation – giving them hope for a better tomorrow.
Through education, shelter, and long-term care projects, plus our Operation Christmas Child shoebox program, we provide help and joy to vulnerable children.
Through medical projects, the organization provides quality health care in the name of the Great Physician. It also sends medical and dental personnel to help in countries around the world. And through the “teams program”, Canadians are given the opportunity to work alongside Samaritan’s Purse on a mission, relief or youth team.
Through the organization’s many water projects, they help provide life-saving clean water and essential health and hygiene training to hundreds of thousands of people in the developing world.
All of this much-needed effort enables supporters to be modern-day Good Samaritans – and often earns us opportunities to share our faith in Jesus Christ.
Participants in Australia, Austria, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada donated almost 10 million shoeboxes in 2013, said Aspell.
“If it wasn’t for the shoebox donations, many of the children we assist would not be receiving anything on Christmas Day,” she said. “That’s why this is such an important program.”
Samaritan’s Purse Canada, established in 1973, is working in about 45 countries around the world while Samaritan’s Purse International (including offices in the U.S., England, and Australia) is working in more than100 countries.
When Dr. Bob Pierce founded Samaritan’s Purse in 1970, his goal was “to meet emergency needs in crisis areas through existing evangelical mission agencies and national churches.” We continue that mission.”
Osoyoos and area residents filled just over 250 shoeboxes last year as part of Operation Christmas Child and the goal is to have 350 this year, said Aspell.
A “packing party” will be held the evening of November 13 at Osoyoos Baptist Church and anyone willing to help can contact Aspell at 250-498-9418.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
