Nov 22, 2019 2 min read

The national collection week for Operation Christmas Child continues through Nov. 25.

Each year, Samaritan’s Purse collects shoeboxes filled with toys and other gifts, including hygiene items, school supplies, and a handwritten note, and sends them to children in more than 160 countries and territories.

The ministry began in 1993 after Franklin Graham, the president of Samaritan’s Purse and son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, was asked if he could help send presents to children in war-torn Bosnia.

Since then, more than 168 million shoebox gifts have been collected for children worldwide.

Area drop-off centers and team leader contact information are:

• South Hills Bible Chapel, 300, Gallery Drive, McMurray; contact Tara Rankin, 412-523-2555.
• First Church of Nazarene, 115 Deerfield Lane, Waynesburg; contact Julie Gatrell, 724-833-3387.
• Crossroads Ministries, 81 Walter Long Drive, Finleyville; contact Deborah Metcalfe, 412-584-7013.
• McDonald Presbyterian Church, 202 W. Lincoln Ave., McDonald; contact Michelle Unruh, 412-720-8232.
• South Franklin Community Building, 100 Municipal Road, Washington; contact Mary Kay Bails, 724-579-6716.
• California Calvary Church of the Nazarene, 73 Promised Land Drive, Coal Center; contact Erin Molish, 724-809-6983.

For additional information, or to complete a shoebox online, please visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ/.