BONNYVILLE – The Bonnyville Fellowship Alliance Church is partnered with the Samaritans Purse for another year of Operation Christmas Child, where participants fill a shoebox with gifts for a child in need.
Operation Christmas Child is a project that collects shoeboxes filled with gifts such as toys, school supplies, and hygiene items, and delivers them to children in need around the world. According to information from Samaritans Purse, for many of the children who receive a Christmas shoebox, it is the first gift they have ever received.
“Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind, has collected and delivered more than 220 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 170 countries and territories,” states the organization.
Local organizer Kelli Healey reports that it is national collection week for dropping off your shoe box, and the church will be accepting drop offs on Friday from 5 until 8 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m., and Sunday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Shoeboxes are available in Bonnyville at the dollar store, the C2 centre, and the Bonnyville Municipal Library. Pamphlets are included to guide donors on what to purchase for the shoebox for different age groups.
Healey has taken over the project in Bonnyville for the last two years and says the experience has been a positive way to serve the community.
“It’s been great. Last year was my first year. The lady who ran it before had it very organized, so she trained me and ran me through everything,” said Healey
She spoke highly of the generosity of the community.
“A couple churches have boxes available . . . and I also dropped off boxes at a few different schools as well. One impressive group is a group of ladies from Iron River that every year do something like 150 boxes. It’s super impressive,” said Healey.
With a young daughter by her side, Healey is using the project to instill a sense of charity in her own child.
“I wanted to get involved as a way to teach my daughter to serve. She’s only three so she’s still pretty young, but we did boxes last year and we’re doing it again this year. She helps me when we’re at the church collecting, so she’s learning to great people and say thank you for the shoeboxes.”