A record number of shoeboxes filled with supplies for children have been collected at First Baptist Church in Olds and are now in Calgary being sorted for delivery to needy children and families around the world.
A total of 1,345 shoeboxes were loaded into a big horse trailer at the First Baptist Church Thursday, Nov. 26, Another 394 were delivered directly to Calgary from Olds Koinonia Christian School for a total of 1,739 delivered from Olds and district, up from 1,262 in 2013 and way above the 419 collected when the First Baptist Church became the Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Collection Centre for Olds and district in 2002.
Operation Christmas Child shoebox collection campaign is operated by Samaritan's Purse, a Christian relief and development organization.
Each shoebox is filled with hygiene items, school supplies, toys and candy, and is given to children regardless of gender, race or religion. On the heels of the shoebox distributions, local churches, etc., deliver a Bible study course.
Local collection centre co-ordinator Ruth Reilly is thrilled with the response from the community.
“Thanks to the kind and generous people of Olds and area, more than 1,700 needy children around the world are about to be blessed from our little corner of Alberta,” she says.
As the local collection centre for Operation Christmas Child, First Baptist Church is responsible to supply the community with empty shoeboxes, shoebox labels, posters and information to individuals, groups, schools and churches in the area, as well as to ship the gift-filled shoeboxes directly to Samaritan's Purse head office in Calgary.
Some groups, such as Olds Koinonia Christian School in Olds, deliver their shoeboxes directly to Calgary. At that point, all shoeboxes from Western Canada and the Territories are inspected, then sent out to receiving countries.
This year, shoeboxes leaving Canada are expected to go to the following countries:
· From Western Canada: Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuela, Uruguay, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea.
· From Eastern Canada: Haiti, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Chile, Easter Island, Senegal and Guinea.
This year, Canadians can send shoeboxes to two new locations: Kurdistan and Ukraine, to help Iraqi and Syrian refugees, and victims of war in eastern Ukraine.
Following is a news alert Reilly received from Samaritan's Purse:
“Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian people fleeing savage ISIS terrorists are in refugee camps in Kurdistan. They desperately need the hope and joy that simple shoebox gifts can provide. In addition to our ongoing aid work in the camps, we will be giving shoeboxes to children.
“Ukraine's civil war with Russian-supported insurgents has caused misery, poverty and heartbreak for thousands of war victims. We want them to know they have not been forgotten by Canadians or by God. Your shoebox gifts will send that message and enable us to share our hope in Christ with them.”
Samaritan's Purse is also trying to help people in Liberia, one of three west African countries dealing with an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.
The organization has airlifted more than 100 tons of Ebola relief to Liberia and will send another 90 tons of supplies, including suits, gloves, masks and boots to help protect workers at community care centres (CCCs).
Samaritan's Purse is also building up to 15 CCCs in rural areas across Liberia, where care has been scarce.
The CCCs provide care that includes food, water and pain medicine, while also helping to reduce the chances that Ebola patients will infect their own families. Liberians are being trained to work in those places.
