HAMPTON—
As schools nationwide prepare to open their doors for another year of learning, many parents are shopping for back-to-school bargains using a school-issued supply list as their guide.
But this year, kids across New England and the rest of the United States are thinking beyond their own backpacks and buying supplies for kids they have never met.
In the midst of their school shopping, Americans are stocking up on items for Operation Christmas Child (OCC), a massive year-round project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization based in Boone, NC.
Since 1993, OCC has hand-delivered shoe box gifts to more than 86 million hurting children overseas. To make this ministry work, participants fill shoeboxes with an assortment of school supplies, toys, necessity items and letters of encouragement that will soon be shipped and distributed to kids in some 130 countries.
Parents and kids alike love getting extra notebooks, colored pencils and erasers to pack in their shoebox gifts. During back-to-school sales they can get items for great prices, which enables families to help even more children in need.
This shoe box packing effort, requiring months of organization and preparation, will reach some 8.5 million kids who are suffering because of natural disaster, disease, war, terrorism, famine and poverty. For many of these children, the shoebox will be the first gift they have ever received.
Those participating in this annual effort are encouraged to enlist families, churches, scout troops, community groups and businesses to take advantage of back-to-school sales by collecting school supplies for shoe box gifts.
After purchasing everything that’s on your back-to-school list, simply fill shoe boxes (cardboard or plastic) with school supplies, toys, personal items (comb, toothbrush and toothpaste, facecloth, etc.) and, if desired, a letter of encouragement.
Then, when National Collection Week comes around (this year it’s November 14-21), drop off the gift boxes at a collection site near you. The local collection site in this region is at the Hampton Falls First Baptist Church, located at the junction of Routes 1-88 in Hampton Falls, across from the town common.
Detailed step-by-step shoebox packing instructions are available at www.samaritanspurse.org/occ. For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call (800) 353-5949 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.
Photo caption: Hannah White (pictured) has been packing Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts for needy kids overseas with her family for most of her life. The Whites have collected thousands of shoebox gifts in their garage since 2002. (Photo courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)
As schools nationwide prepare to open their doors for another year of learning, many parents are shopping for back-to-school bargains using a school-issued supply list as their guide.
But this year, kids across New England and the rest of the United States are thinking beyond their own backpacks and buying supplies for kids they have never met.
In the midst of their school shopping, Americans are stocking up on items for Operation Christmas Child (OCC), a massive year-round project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization based in Boone, NC.
Since 1993, OCC has hand-delivered shoe box gifts to more than 86 million hurting children overseas. To make this ministry work, participants fill shoeboxes with an assortment of school supplies, toys, necessity items and letters of encouragement that will soon be shipped and distributed to kids in some 130 countries.
Parents and kids alike love getting extra notebooks, colored pencils and erasers to pack in their shoebox gifts. During back-to-school sales they can get items for great prices, which enables families to help even more children in need.
This shoe box packing effort, requiring months of organization and preparation, will reach some 8.5 million kids who are suffering because of natural disaster, disease, war, terrorism, famine and poverty. For many of these children, the shoebox will be the first gift they have ever received.
Those participating in this annual effort are encouraged to enlist families, churches, scout troops, community groups and businesses to take advantage of back-to-school sales by collecting school supplies for shoe box gifts.
After purchasing everything that’s on your back-to-school list, simply fill shoe boxes (cardboard or plastic) with school supplies, toys, personal items (comb, toothbrush and toothpaste, facecloth, etc.) and, if desired, a letter of encouragement.
Then, when National Collection Week comes around (this year it’s November 14-21), drop off the gift boxes at a collection site near you. The local collection site in this region is at the Hampton Falls First Baptist Church, located at the junction of Routes 1-88 in Hampton Falls, across from the town common.
Detailed step-by-step shoebox packing instructions are available at www.samaritanspurse.org/occ. For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call (800) 353-5949 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.
Photo caption: Hannah White (pictured) has been packing Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts for needy kids overseas with her family for most of her life. The Whites have collected thousands of shoebox gifts in their garage since 2002. (Photo courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)
