Operation Christmas Child collections begin Nov. 12

The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen HOLIDAY MINISTRY: National Collection Week for Samaritan's Purse's Operation Christmas Child begins Nov. 12, and individuals and groups are encouraged to pack shoe boxes with small gifts and supplies for children in need across the globe. Shari Coston serves as relay center coordinator for the Hot Springs area and boxes may be dropped at one of three locations, including First United Methodist Church.
The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen HOLIDAY MINISTRY: National Collection Week for Samaritan's Purse's Operation Christmas Child begins Nov. 12, and individuals and groups are encouraged to pack shoe boxes with small gifts and supplies for children in need across the globe. Shari Coston serves as relay center coordinator for the Hot Springs area and boxes may be dropped at one of three locations, including First United Methodist Church.

National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child will be held from Nov. 12-19, and residents in and around Garland County can participate.

A project of Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child is a way for individuals and groups to pack gift-filled shoe boxes for children across the globe this holiday season. Relay centers will be open locally at Grand Avenue Methodist Church, Walnut Valley Baptist Church in Hot Springs Village and First Baptist Church Malvern, for boxes to be dropped off.

"For 25 years Samaritan's Purse has been sending gift-filled shoe boxes to children in need through this project," said Susan Thomas, community and media relations coordinator for Samaritan's Purse in Little Rock. "In those first 25 years, 157 million children in 160 countries and territories have been blessed by unexpected gifts from kind people who do not even know them. These children have been affected by war, disease, disaster, poverty and famine. For many of these children, the gift-filled shoe box is the first gift they have ever received."

Items for shoe boxes range from school supplies and hygiene items to small toys such as a doll or a ball.

According to Shari Coston, relay center coordinator, the Hot Springs area has been very successful in participating, she said.

"Last year we had about 4,000 boxes," Coston said. "We had so many that we split and added two more relay centers -- one in Hot Springs Village and one out near Malvern -- because at the most we've had about 8,000 boxes."

While many church groups gather to pack boxes, Coston said several individuals in the area participate, as well.

"This is open for anybody; it's not specific to just churches," she said. "We have a lot of individuals who pack boxes. We have a teen in our church whose birthday is in November and instead of presents, she has her friends pack boxes every year for her birthday party. A lot of home-school students pack boxes as a project."

Coston said there are still plenty of boxes available for individuals and small groups looking to pack boxes ahead of collection week. In addition, bulletin inserts and informational materials are available for churches, she said.

"If a church needed hundreds at this point, we may not have enough," Coston said. "But, if someone was interested and never did this before, they are more than welcome to come in and we'll get them set up."

Thomas said as a local volunteer, she had the opportunity to join a shoe box distribution trip in Rwanda, visiting a small school outside the capital city of Kigali.

"We drove through the hills on dirt roads and saw children playing with homemade soccer balls of plastic bags wrapped to a rough, round shape and tied with twine," she said.

Thomas said she brought a box for a 10- to 14-year-old boy, and as volunteers were calling out ages and genders to hand out boxes, one 10-year-old boy in the back of the group raised his hand.

"His name was Embe," she said. "We handed out all the boxes and did a dramatic countdown to open the boxes. I stood down the row and watched Embe peek into his box. He jumped up and down, waving his hands and yelling something. The interpreter told me he was saying 'I got a ball.' He saw his soccer ball and pump first and knew immediately how the pump worked. He pulled one item out at a time and looked at it."

Thomas said before the group left, a parent of one student took time to tell the volunteers thank you for the visit.

"As we left, Embe waved at me from the back row and held up the note with the picture of me and my husband," she said. "It had fallen out of the box under his desk and he found it. I had printed a world map with Arkansas circled so he could see how far that box had come. One of his English speaking teachers had read it to him. He gave me a big wide smile and yelled 'Thank you.'"

For those looking to participate in the collection week, each relay center has designated different drop-off times. For times and more information call First United Methodist Church at 501-623-5626; Walnut Valley Baptist Church at 501-623-7422; or First Baptist Church Malvern 501-332-5263.

Local on 11/06/2018

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