The Journey of a Shoebox from Greene County
While most of us are looking forward to getting gifts under the Christmas tree, many Greene County residents looked overseas to extend their holiday gift giving to children less fortunate.
During the week of Nov. 12, local churches, organizations and individuals donated shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies, non-liquid hygiene items, clothing and crafts to aid children around the world. They did so as part of a nation-wide project called Operation Christmas Child, which is coordinated by an international relief organization called Samaritan’s Purse.
“As far as I can determine, Greene County has been involved in Operation Christmas Child for at least the past 12 years,” said Julie Gatrell, drop-off coordinator at The First Church of the Nazarene. “Donating shoeboxes is a fun thing to do and it also does so much good.”
Once filled, the boxes were dropped off at the First Church of the Nazarene in Waynesburg.
“As they came in, we blessed the boxes and prayed with those who delivered them,” Gatrell said. “Altogether, Greene County residents donated 316 boxes more than last year for a total of 1,955 boxes.”
The boxes were then packed in cartons provided by Samaritan’s Purse and placed on the church altar on Nov. 17. The following day, the Rev. John Poling blessed the cartons before they were loaded on a trailer donated by a Waynesburg resident and moved to the Bible Chapel near McMurray.
On Nov. 19, the last day of the collection, an additional 286 boxes were donated and then transported to the Bible Chapel. The project’s collection date has passed, but hopeful donors can still create a shoebox of gifts on the Samaritan’s Purse website.
From the McMurray collection site, tractor-trailers hauled the cartons to Boone, North Carolina, where the boxes will be shipped to children overseas.
According to the Samaritan’s Purse website, with every box of gifts, the children also receive the message of Christ’s love in a book titled “The Greatest Journey.” To help pay for the transportation expenses and the cost of printing the gift book, donors are asked to contribute $9 per box.
“Some people enclose cash or a check in their boxes, and church parishioners sometimes get together and send in a single check to cover the expense,” Gatrell said.
When donors pay the $9 fee online, they’re given a label they can print out and attach to their box to follow its journey.
To run efficiently, the Greene County project requires a lot of volunteers. Gatrell said her church alone had 15 volunteers work on the project.
According to the organization’s website, “Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ.”
For more information on Operation Christmas Child or to select from a variety of items to build your own shoebox online, visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.