Great Bend will soon become an epicenter for thousands of gift-filled shoeboxes in support of Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind. From a drop-off site based at Grace Community Church, for example, volunteers will be working to collect 17,600 gift-filled shoeboxes packed by caring Great Bend-area residents.
This collection site will be open during Operation Christmas Child’s National Collection Week, Nov. 17-24. Hours are 8 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday and 1-2:30 p.m. Sunday; and 8:30-9:30 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 24.
In Larned, First Southern Baptist Church, 1224 Corse Ave., is also a collection site. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to noon Saturday; 1-4 p.m. Sunday; and 9 a.m. to noon on Monday, Nov. 24.
Other area churches participating are Otterbein United Methodist Church in Russell and Ellsworth First Presbyterian Church.
Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 113 million shoebox gifts to suffering children in more than 150 countries since 1993, and hopes to collect another 9.9 million gift-filled shoeboxes in 2014. Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham.
For more information about how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call 816-622-8316 or visit samaritanspurse.org.