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Community steps up for Operation Christmas Child

Submitted photo Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child area coordinator Patricia Parsons hands out shoe boxes to children during a past distribution event. More than 11,000 shoe boxes were collected around the area this year for the program.

ELKINS — The community once again answered the call for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child this year with a record number of shoe boxes donated in Randolph and surrounding counties.

It was the 30th straight-year that Operation Christmas Child collected shoe boxes that are distributed to needy children in more than 100 countries around the world. Last year alone in 2023, there were 11,202 boxes collected in Randolph, Tucker, Barbour, Upshur and Pocahontas counties.

Samaritan’s Purse, which is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization that provides spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world, is led locally by area coordinator Patricia Parsons. 

“We did really, really good this year,” said Parsons. “We had approximately 11,461 shoe boxes, which is over what we had last year by a few hundred. And that doesn’t include any of the shoe boxes in the area that were packaged online. So we are thankful to everyone who came out and helped with this year’s collection.”

Collection week was held during the week of Nov. 18 as boxes were collected in nine locations in the aforementioned counties. Before being shipped to other countries, the boxes were sent to Operation Christmas Child distribution centers in other states.

“We were hoping to get 13,000 boxes this year, but we are happy with what we received,” said Parsons. “The shoe boxes go all over the world, we don’t know where they are going, but the people who sent a box can follow it online to see where it ends up.”

When the shoe boxes reach their destination, a representative from Samaritan’s Purse goes into villages and communities and teaches the people there about Jesus. The shoebox recipients are boys and girls ages 2  to 14 years-old. The boxes are filled with a variety of items including hygiene products, toys, games, clothes, shoes, and stuffed animals. The organization also asks that one “Wow” item be placed in the box. The “Wow” item can be anything from a soccer ball with a pump, to an action figure.

“Starting in January we will be looking for volunteers for next year,” said Parsons. “At that time we will also be doing appreciation where we contact people and thank them for their participation this past year. From there we will start planning and putting things together for next year’s campaign.”

For more information about Operation Christmas Child, visit www.smaritanspurse.org.

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