Operation Christmas Child dropoffs to begin Nov. 14
By Staff Reports
Published in News on October 16, 2011 1:50 AM
Adamsville Baptist Church on North Berkeley Boulevard will serve again this year as a collection center for Operation Christmas Child, the world-wide program that provides shoeboxes full of toys, personal hygiene items and other goodies for children around the world.
First Baptist Church at 300 N. Chestnut St. in Mount Olive will serve as a relay center.
The program is run under the auspices of Samaritan's Purse, the charitable organization run by Franklin Graham.
Donors are asked to assemble the gift package in a shoebox or a plastic container of the same size. Determine what age and sex child you will be preparing the box for and include the appropriate items. Ages are from 2-4 years old, 5-9 years old or 10-14 years old.
Mark the age and sex on the box. Labels are available from fliers or download one from the website samaritanspurse.org/occ. Pamphlets with labels are available by calling 1-800-353-5949. For local information, call 778-4150.
A $7 donation should accompany each box to pay for shipping and handling. Boxes should be wrapped with a rubber band to keep the contents from spilling.
Items that can be included are school supplies, such as pencils, pens, crayons, ink stamp sets, writing pads and paper, solar calculators and coloring or picture books. Toys can include balls, dolls, stuffed animals, yo-yos, harmonicas, kazoos, Slinkies or toy jewelry. Other items can include watches, flashlights (with batteries), t-shirts, socks, caps, sunglasses and hair clips. Personal hygiene items can be toothbrushes, toothpaste, bar soap in a plastic bag, combs or washcloths.
Boxes should not contain used or damaged items, war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figurines, chocolate or food, liquids or lotions, vitamins or medications or breakable items such as glass containers, snowglobes or aerosol cans.
Boxes can be dropped off at Adamsville on these dates, at these times: Monday, Nov. 14: 2-8 p.m.; Tuesday, Nov. 15, 10 a.m. until noon and 2-6 p.m.; Wednesday, Nov. 16, 3-8 p.m.; Thursday Nov. 17, 10 a.m. until noon and 2-6 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 18, 3-6 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 19, 3-5 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 20, 1- 8 p.m.; and Monday, Nov. 21, 11 a.m. until noon.
Dropoff times at Mount Olive First Baptist are Monday, Nov. 14, 2:30- 4:30 p.m.; Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2:30-4:30 p.m.; Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2:30-4:30 p.m.; Thursday, Nov. 17, 2:30- 4:30 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 18, 6- 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 19, 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.; and Sunday, Nov. 20, noon until 3 p.m.
After Nov. 21, gift boxes or straightforward donations may be sent to: Samaritan's Purse, Operaton Christmas Child, 801 Bamboo Road, Boone, NC 28607. Checks should be made payable to Samaritan's Purse.
The boxes are distributed to more than 100 countries around the world.