Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
The holiday season is quickly approaching and that means it is almost time to finish filling your “Operation Christmas Child” shoebox. Shoeboxes can be dropped off at the Madison Church of God, located at 771 NE Colin Kelly Hwy., in Madison. The dates and times for dropping off shoeboxes are:
• Monday, Nov. 13, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 14, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.
• Wednesday, Nov. 15, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.
• Thursday, Nov. 16, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.
• Friday, Nov. 17, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.
• Saturday, Nov. 18, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
• Sunday, Nov. 19, from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m.
• Monday, Nov. 20, from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m.
To fill a shoebox, simply pick up one of the pre-printed shoeboxes available at the Madison Church of God, or several other area churches. Decide the age and gender of the child you want to fill the box for. Then just fill the box with items, such as school supplies, age appropriate toys (be sure to include a “WOW” toy like a ball, a toy car, etc.), socks are always a good item, a toothbrush is another nice thing to include, etc. Many people choose to include a personal message for the child. Please consider including a monetary donation to Samaritan’s Purse to help defray the cost of shipping the shoeboxes. Once you fill your shoebox, simply drop it off at the designated location and Samaritan’s Purse will take care of the rest.
Operation Christmas Child is a wonderful way to help make this season a little brighter for a child in another part of the world, or possibly here in the United States. Wherever the child who receives your shoebox may be, you can be sure that you have brought a smile to his/her face and you have shown them that someone in the world cares about them; and that could mean the world to that child.
You can find more information about Operation Christmas Child, including how to conveniently fill a “virtual shoebox” at www.samaritanspurse.org.