Would you like to bring joy to a disadvantaged child overseas this Christmas? There’s still time to pack a shoebox gift, says Kara Walsh, team leader for the local Operation Christmas Child drive. The deadline is Saturday, November 17.
Every fall Comox Valley families, businesses, churches, schools, and community groups fill hundreds of little red shoeboxes with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items for children living in circumstances of poverty, disease, war, and natural disaster.
In 2017 the Valley contributed 1,400 shoeboxes to the 620,000 that were collected across Canada for distribution in Central America, West Africa, and the Ukraine. For many children, this was the first gift they had ever received.
OCC shoeboxes are preferred, but any shoebox will do. Visit SamaritansPurse.ca/OCC to find out what you may include (personal notes and photos are welcomed). If possible, include a donation of $10 per box, to cover shipping and program costs. Drop your boxes at the OCC collection centre located at Comox Pentecostal Church, 1919 Guthrie Avenue, Comox, on the following dates:
Thursday, Nov. 15, from 9-11 a.m.
Friday, Nov. 16, from 4-7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 17, from 10 am. - 2 p.m.
Walsh extends warm thanks to the many Comox Valley churches, groups, and businesses that vigorously support the local shoebox drive each year. For more information please call the Comox Pentecostal Church office at 250-339-4536. Operation Christmas Child is an annual initiative of Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief and development organization.