Quite a collection
Beginning Monday, several Butler County churches will serve as drop-off sites for the Samaritan's Purse project, Operation Christmas Child, joining nearly 5,000 U.S. locations collecting gift-filled shoeboxes for children in need around the world.
During the project's National Collection Week, Nov. 13 to 20, county residents will fill empty shoeboxes with school supplies, hygiene items and toys.
Operation Christmas Child will deliver these shoebox gifts to children affected by war, disease, disaster, poverty and famine.
“This is a three-step process,” said Lucas Zellers, with the Operation Christmas Child office in Xenia, Ohio.
“Right now, people are gathering shoeboxes, having packing parties,” said Zellers. “Then they take them to a drop-off location. From there, they are taken to one central location and packed up for delivery to one of eight processing centers in the United States.”
All shoeboxes in the Butler/Armstrong County region will be sent to Columbia, Md., outside Baltimore, “where they are processed and prepared for international shipment to one of one hundred countries worldwide,” said Zellers.
This year, Zellers said, the Butler/Armstrong region hopes to contribute more than 14,555 shoebox gifts toward the 2017 global goal of reaching 12 million children.
The collection center for all the churches in Armstrong and Butler counties will be St. John's Reformed Church, 494 Evans City Road.
Verneita Simmons of Butler, who with her husband, Don, is a collection center coordinator, said during the upcoming week they will be placing shoeboxes into cartons for shipment by truck to Baltimore and eventual shipment overseas.
“We pack shoeboxes into cartons that are put on trucks that go directly to Baltimore,” said Simmons. “We count them and pack the cartons. We pack them at the church.”
She said she and her husband will be counting and packing cartons every day next week.“We've been involved with this (Operation Christmas Child) quite a few years and the church has been a drop-off center for 10 years,” said Simmons.“This project is open to everyone. It gives them an opportunity to experience giving in a way that connects them and gives them an opportunity to give worldwide,” said Zellers.Zellers said, “Operation Shoebox (now called Christmas Child) started in 1990 when a Welsh couple sent boxes to Romania.”He said the effort took off from there and teamed up with Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse charity.“We are honored to join the nationwide effort to collect gift-filled shoeboxes for children who may have never experienced the true meaning of Christmas,” said regional director Mesfin Abera. “Through these simple gifts and a message of hope, children learn that God loves them and has not forgotten them.”
Drop-off site locations and times of operationSt. John’s Reformed Church494 Evans City RoadMonday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 6 to 8 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday, 3 to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.; Monday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.Zion United Methodist Church,438 Bear Creek Road, SarverMonday, Wednesday, Friday, 6 to 9 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to 6 p.m.; Monday, 9 to 11 a.m.Three Rivers Free Will Baptist Church20401 Route 19, Cranberry TownshipMonday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 2 to 4 p.m.; Thursday, 6 to 8 p.m.; Friday, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon; Sunday, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Monday, 8 to 10 a.m.Woodland Valley Church226 Crowe Ave., MarsMonday, Wednesday, Friday, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 2 p.m.; Sunday, 5 to 8 p.m.; Monday, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.Friendship Presbyterian Church Community Center866 New Castle Road, Slippery RockMonday, 5 to 8 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, 9 to 11 a.m.; Wednesday and Friday, 5 to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 1 to 3 p.m.; Monday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.St. John’s Reformed Church334 W. Slippery Rock St., ChicoraMonday, 2 to 4 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 6 to 8 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon; Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.; Monday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
