ELKINS — Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child is celebrating Christmas in July with a month-long event at the First United Methodist Church in Elkins.

Throughout the month of July, an angel tree with items that are needed for Operation Christmas Child’s shoe boxes has been stationed outside of the main office at the First United Methodist Church. The tree is part of the program’s Christmas in July event.

“Sometimes some of our churches will do a donation tree, or something like that, where you can pick off supplies,” Operation Christmas Child area coordinator Patricia Parsons told The Inter-Mountain. “You could do 10 boxes of crayons, or different things like that, or you could adopt a box. They hang these things on a Christmas tree like ornaments, and then they would take the tag and then bring in whatever the tag said. Whether it be paying the shipping on a box or buying crayons or whatever, and that’s a good way to catch people’s eyes.”

Operation Christmas Child donates shoeboxes filled with a variety of items, including hygiene products, toys, games, clothes, shoes and stuffed animals, to children around the world. When the shoe boxes reach their destination, a representative from Samaritan’s Purse, which is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization, goes into villages and communities to spread the teachings of Jesus.

Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 232 million shoeboxes to children in more than 170 countries and territories

Despite what the program’s name implies, boxes are donated year-round.

“A lot of people think (the boxes) only go out for Christmas, but they’re not,” Parsons said. “They go throughout the year.”

On June 30, Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco proclaimed the month of July as Operation Christmas Child Month, stating =the program is a “heartfelt initiative” that has been “spreading joy and goodwill for over 30 years.”

“Operation Christmas Child serves as an inspiring example of how a simple shoebox filled with small gifts… can make a profound impact on the lives of countless children, not only providing them with material goods, but also fostering a sense of belonging, love and a reminder that they are not forgotten,” the mayor’s proclamation states, adding the program “…a reminder of the power of compassion, empathy and international cooperation, as people from diverse backgrounds come together to create a brighter future for the world’s children.”

In Randolph, Tucker, Barbour, Upshur and Pocahontas counties, Operation Christmas Child generated approximately 11,461 shoe boxes for the 2024 Christmas season.

“It’s not a humanitarian effort,” Parsons told The Inter-Mountain. “A lot of people think those shoe boxes supply necessities. They really don’t. It’s more about the gospel than anything. Because we put school supplies and sometimes clothing, hygiene times and that type of thing in them, but, I mean, yes, a lot of times they are needed, but it’s more about sharing the gospel of Jesus.”

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