Operation Christmas Child

“Simple shoeboxes become the bridges to eternity.”
-A member of a church in a largely unreached area of Asia
Samaritan’s Purse Website

The Samaritan’s Purse project Operation Christmas Child collects shoebox gifts‑filled with fun toys, school supplies and hygiene items—and delivers them to children in need around the world to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way. For many of these children, the gift—filled shoebox 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 178 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 160 countries and territories.

In 2020, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough shoebox gifts to reach another 11 million children in countries like Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda and Ukraine. More than 10.5 million shoebox gifts were collected worldwide in 2019, with more than 8.9 million collected in the U.S.

Anyone can pack a shoebox. Individuals, families, churches and groups fill empty shoeboxes with school supplies, hygiene items and fun toys, such as dolls or soccer balls.

During National Collection Week (Nov. 16–23, 2020), Samaritan’s Purse will collect the gift‑filled shoeboxes at nearly 5,000 drop‑off locations in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

(from the Samaritan’s Purse website)