WORTH TWP — It really will seem like Christmas in July next week at Zion Baptist Church, 154 Currie Road.

That's when Nicole Richards and Rachel Milligan, both of Slippery Rock, will hold their second shoe box party to gather and pack shoe boxes with gifts for children in need around the world.

“We thought July would be even better because it is not as busy. Last year we did it in November,” said Richards, the owner of Nicole Richards Photography.

“We had it at my home and invited family, friends and neighbors to come out for it, and we ran out of space fairly quickly,” Richards said.

“We're going to try to make it an annual event,” said Milligan, who is a social worker in Butler. “Last year it was hard to find time around the holidays. We will see how it goes this year and decide what we want to do next year.” This year's party will run from 10 a.m. to noon July 19 at the church.

The boxes will be filled with toys, school supplies, hygiene items and perhaps a personal note from the person packing the shoe box, said Richards. “Last year, we put candy in them also.”

“The boxes cannot contain perishable food, war-related items, liquids, vitamins, medications or broken items,” she added.

Richards said the shoe box delivery is part of Operation Christmas Child run by Samaritan's Purse, a Christian relief organization based in North Carolina.

“These are actual shoe boxes sent all over the world to children in need.” Richards said.

“I also teach Zumba,” said Richards, “and so last year, my Zumba students donated their own shoeboxes.”

“This year, because last year we had to wrap them all in wrapping paper, we ordered the boxes from Samaritan's Purse. They are already prepackaged to look like a present, so it makes it a lot easier,” Richards said.

“We did 55 boxes last year, and our goal this year is 100,” Richards said.

“That would almost double what we did last year and that's our goal,” said Milligan.

Richards said they hope to get between 30 and 50 people for the packing party.

She said, “This is our first year of doing it (on this scale), so we are just taking a guess at how many people we will have, so the more the merrier.”

“We sent out fliers to churches asking them to donate items,” Richards said.

“It's open to the public. Anyone can come,” said Milligan.

Richards said, “Some people are planning to donate the items the day of the event to fill the shoe boxes, and actually since our last party, we have been collecting items from our family and friends when they see certain items at the Dollar Store and places like that.”

Since the party outgrew Richards' home, Milligan talked to Zion Baptist's pastor, the Rev. Tom Meling, about using the church this year.

“She's a member and she approached us about using the church,” said Meling, who offered the use of the fellowship hall.

Richards said, “We are going to have people fill the boxes and add a personal note to the box. These are going to bad parts of the world, and many children have never received a gift in their life, so people can add a self-addressed, stamped envelope, so a child has the opportunity to mail them back.”

“In fact,” Richards said, “we received a letter from a recipient of one of our shoe boxes. We were able to track them, they went to Malawi, so that was really neat. We got to see a picture of her, too.”

“It was from a preteen girl thanking us for our gifts and introducing the other members of her family, ” said Milligan. “She was living with her grandmother and told us why.”

Meling said the boxes will be stored at the church until they are taken to an Operation Christmas Child collection point the second week in November.

Richards said she and Milligan met “because we both become moms at the same time. She had a little boy and I had a little boy, Now we each have two boys.

“A friend of my sister is a missionary in Papua, New Guinea, and I would see her kids make the boxes to send over,” said Richards.

“She got the idea and I just jumped on the bandwagon,” said Milligan.

Each box costs $7 to ship, Richards said.

Donors can go to www.samaritanspurse.org to give online.

“What they will do is print out labels and bring them to the packing party, and we will make sure it gets on a box,” said Richards.

“I appreciate Rachel and her friend's commitment to doing this,” said Meling. “They've done all the legwork so the credit goes to them.”

“We are hoping to see the whole community come out for the event. I don't think any other churches are doing an event like this. We mailed out information to local churches and let church members know. It would be nice to see all different congregations come together for the common good,” said Richards. “It's a great lesson for the children to learn.”