Area donated 7,000 shoeboxes to Operation Christmas Child
Volunteer area coordinator Susan Jennings reported that Operation Christmas Child gathered nearly 7,000 shoeboxes filled with presents from local residents during the recent collection week in November. For this area, Jennings reported that Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Smithfield collected 4,788 shoeboxes from its site, while World Christian Outreach Ministries in Connellsville collected 1,615 and Clinton Church of God in Normalville collected 580. These churches acted as drop-off sites for their surrounding areas before taking them to the Greensburg collection center.
Jennings reported that Mount Moriah’s records showed that First Baptist Church of Point Marion collected 38 shoeboxes and New Life Covenant Church took in 160, while St. Therese Roman Catholic Church collected 933 shoeboxes. These shoeboxes were delivered to Mount Moriah before being sent on to Greensburg.
Jennings, a former Uniontown resident now living in Jeannette, Westmoreland County, coordinates volunteer efforts for Fayette and Westmoreland counties as well as parts of Somerset and Monroeville in Allegheny County.
Her district collected more than 17,000 shoeboxes altogether and she noted that Washington Flyers Club, while not in the district, collected more than 5,000 shoeboxes. As a result, southwestern Pennsylvania collected more than 22,000 shoeboxes.
“We are all extremely happy about the amount of shoeboxes we received,’ Jennings said. “It is really hard to maintain the level of giving in which we find ourselves, but people are generous and love this project. We know the children do receive the boxes and what a difference a simple gift can make in a child’s life. And we all know that the real gift isn’t what is in that box, it’s the gift of Jesus Christ that is the true gift.’
Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Dr. Franklin Graham, son of popular evangelist Dr. Billy Graham. The program, which began in 1993, sends shoeboxes filled with gifts such as hard candy and small toys to children around the world in desperate situations that include famine and war. The public participates by preparing shoeboxes filled with gifts and sending them to local collection sites, which are then forwarded to the national collection site for distribution.
According to its Web site, Operation Christmas Child in 2005 collected 7.6 million gift-filled shoeboxes. Of these, 4.5 million came from the United States, which is one of 11 participating countries. The distribution took place in more than 90 countries.
Jennings said, “I think we are always amazed at the enthusiasm in which people bring in the boxes and of those who volunteer. We have really committed volunteers who work hard to get the boxes ready all week. We couldn’t do what we do without volunteers. There are only 76 paid Operation Christmas Child staff that cover the whole United States. The rest are volunteer positions which include 3,050 year-round volunteers, 47,000 national collection week volunteers, 60,358 processing center volunteers and one awesome God.’