Operation Christmas Child thanks our neighbors throughout the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas for their generosity in filling shoebox gifts that are delivered to children affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, famine and disease in countries all over the world.

To the individuals, families, and groups who carefully chose each small gift for their shoeboxes — hygiene item, fun toy, or school supply — to the volunteers who collected the thousands of filled boxes and sent these treasured gifts on their way to distant lands, we thank you.

Through your efforts, more than 10,000 shoeboxes were collected from the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas. Give yourselves a hand.

These children, many of whom have never received a gift before, learn God loves them and has not forgotten them. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind, has collected and delivered more than 146 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 160 countries and territories.

Every day is a good day to fill a shoebox. You can shop online today to build a personalized shoebox gift at samaritanspurse.org/buildonline. If your shoebox is already filled, it can be sent year-round to Samaritan’s Purse headquarters at 801 Bamboo Road, Boone, NC 28607. Our next National Collection Week is Nov. 12-19.

Join us for our Operation Christmas Child celebration at 1 p.m. Feb. 24 at North Kitsap Baptist Church, 20516 Little Valley Road, Poulsbo. Hear first-hand what it is like to see the happy faces and hear the laughter of children as they receive their shoebox gifts. Learn the destinations for the shoebox gifts collected on our peninsulas in 2017.

Thank you again to everyone who participated in this project and for those who do so year after year. These simple gifts, packed with love, send a message of hope and continue to transform the lives of children worldwide.

Susan Hedding
Operation Christmas Child
Sequim