Operation Christmas Child is an ambitious global mission project to send shoeboxes full of small Christmas gifts to needy children around the world. Organized by Franklin Graham, son of famous evangelist Billy Graham, the program has grown and now sends millions of shoeboxes out annually.
Jan Hansford has volunteered in the warehouses that pack and prepare the shoeboxes for distribution. This year she decided to help Mosinee churches participate. Since October 16, we have been handing out empty shoeboxes at church and in the community. People can pack these with small gifts and personal items for boys or girls of different age groups. We will collect the boxes at Mosinee UMC on November 13 for distribution. Boxes can also be dropped off in the church office through 3:30pm on November 16. It typically costs about $20 to fill a shoebox. The cost of shipping is $7 per box.
Mosinee UMC and Jan are spearheading the effort to start this program in other local churches. Participants this year include St. John’s Lutheran, Cornerstone Church, St. Paul’s faith formation class, students at Wisconsin Valley Lutheran School, and members of Good News Baptist.
Instructions for packing shoeboxes, as well as printable labels, are available at http://www.samaritanspurse.org/occ/.
For more information, contact Jan Hansford (715-693-4378 or airplane@mtc.net).