New, convenient option to pack boxes online available year-round
CALGARY, February 10, 2011 /Canada NewsWire/ - Thank you Canada, you did it again! A total of 640,714 shoe boxes packed with toys, hygiene items and school supplies were collected across the country during the 2010 Operation Christmas Child campaign. That was slightly more than the 2009 total of 640,569.
Distribution of the 2010 shoeboxes in the developing world has already begun. During the next few weeks, children in Haiti, Senegal, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Argentina, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Guatemala, and Venezuela will be receiving boxes packed by caring Canadians.
"We are very grateful for the participation of people of all ages in Operation Christmas Child again in 2010," said Randy Crosson, director of Operation Christmas Child Canada. "Each shoe box is a chance to show hurting children around the world that they are loved by God and by us, and the generosity of Canadians has given us the opportunity to bless over 640,000 children globally."
Thousands of people chose to pack their shoe boxes online this year, taking advantage of Operation Christmas Child's new service that enables visitors to our website to choose shoe box gifts, write a personal note and add a photo, and make a donation.
All shoe boxes packed online in 2010, plus all shoe boxes from Quebec in 2010, are part of a 50,000-box commitment to Haiti, where the need for hope and a reminder of God's love remains very strong after a deadly earthquake in early 2010 and cholera epidemic in late 2010.
Canadians wishing to become involved in Operation Christmas Child can pack a shoe box online at any time of year ( http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/occ/sbintro.aspx), and/or can contact Samaritan's Purse Canada to learn more about volunteering with the organization, donating gift box items, and traveling on shoe box distribution trips.
Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief and development organization. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and hand-delivered more than 77 million shoe box gifts to children in 125 countries around the world affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, disease, and famine.
