C.O. gives to ‘Operation Christmas Child’

Bend and surrounding cities volunteers have collected enough gift-filled shoe boxes to reach more than 7,400 children in need through the Samaritan’s Purse project, Operation Christmas Child.

The Operation Christmas Child Bend Area Team is now thanking the Bend community for their gift donations already on their way to children in need worldwide. For many of these children, the shoebox gift delivered through this local Bend project will be the first gift they will have ever received.

Although local Bend collections have finished for the season, there is still time to pack a gift-filled shoebox online for children suffering from poverty, natural disaster, war, terror, disease and famine. Like online shopping, visitors can browse samaritanspurse.org/occ to select gifts matched to a child’s specific age and gender, then finish by uploading a photo and writing a note of encouragement to be included in the shoebox they build online. They can also follow their box to discover where in the world it will be delivered.

Participants can give a $25 gift card to a family member or friend so they can join in the excitement of Operation Christmas Child by packing a shoebox gift online. These shoeboxes–filled with school supplies,toys, hygiene items and notes of encouragement–are delivered to children in some of the hardest-to-reach countries around the world.

For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call or visit samaritanspurse.org/occ.

Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization. The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 135 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 150 countries and territories.